Frozen Lives
by Mach Productions
Summary: The world of "Frozen" has become intertwined with the "Real World" and characters are coming through. The main protagonist, a 15-year-old named Hank Dietrich, meets the character and vows to help them get back to the "Frozen World". In the meantime, the character must cope and enjoy the alien nature of Reality. This is the first chapter in the "Frozen Lives" series.


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**Frozen Lives**** – ****A fan fiction**

**By Tyler Riggs**

**Chapter: 1**

"Alright, let's take it from the point when Howard enters," Mrs. Williams announced to the cast, "That means you, Henry!"

"Sorry!" I said from backstage. I knocked on the wooden set door to begin the scene.

"Sweetheart?" I said, poking my head through the doorway. My stage partner onstage continued the scene.

"Howard!" she exclaimed as I stepped onto the stage. A couch was set close to the door which I stepped through, with a small table next to it on which an old phone and some prop magazines lay. I approached my partner, whose name I will say is Alexia, and we exchanged a "stage kiss" which for those of you who don't know is not a real kiss. We merely pretend to.

"Are they gone?" I asked her.

"Who?"

"Your parents"

"Howard!"

"Okay, would it be possible for you to act a bit more _stern_, when he says that?" Mrs. Williams, our director, interrupted us to give us some pointers.

"Sure," Alexia replied, "Howard!" This time it she said it like a mother threatening her child with the paddle.

"Perfect," Mrs. Williams exclaimed in delight, "Continue right there." We continued to rehearse our scene from the comedy play "Moon over Buffalo" until we had run through the entirety of it. The play is set in Buffalo, New York in the 50s with a family that used to be popular in the art of theatre. The daughter is grown up and getting married to a weatherman named Howard, that's me, and the father has gotten one of the actresses pregnant. The wife finds out and basically, stuff happens. You can probably look up the play on YouTube with those fancy phones you people have nowadays. I personally am not a fan of cell phones and texting and all that other junk that people do on their devices, I am a fan only of the old-fashioned flip phones that have actual buttons. However my _dream_ phone would have to be those old phones with the dial that you have to turn. I just love those phones!

You see, I'm one of those rare teenagers who like old things like old phones, or old cars, or old movies. My dream car would be one from the 50s, the ones with the curves and fenders that cover half the tires and my favorite music is from the 50's and late 40s. Speaking of music, I absolutely hate all this modern garbage that you hear on the radio; it is absolutely disgusting to me! I can't stand it, and my little sister is starting to get fond of it, so I think I'm going to have to hear that shite all day from her room. But going back to the stuff that I _do_ like, my favorite movie of all time would have to be Schindler's List. That particular movie I loved due to its emotional impact upon people, myself included, and the time period which was set in World War II. Another favorite movie of mine is the animated Disney movie "Frozen". Now I know that I'm a teenage dude and "Frozen" is a Disney movie, but I am absolutely in love with that movie, and I'm not ashamed to say it. It's got a good plot with memorable characters, plus the song that Elsa sang, _Let it Go_, blew my mind, figuratively of course.

Anyway, rehearsals finished and I headed over to the dressing room to change out of my costume and back into my regular clothes. My friend, David who will all call "Dave", proceeded to inform me that the people who developed the card game "Magic the Gathering" came out with a new expansion pack. He and I both enjoy playing that game, continuously battling each other with fierce beasts and spells, and getting new cards for each other.

"I'm looking forward to scratching up enough money to buy some of the new cards," I exclaimed sarcastically to Dave.

"Your dad's still not paying you?" he asked as he hung up his character's suit in the costume closets.

"Yeah, he always asks if I can do him a 'favor', when in reality I'm doing slave labor," I complained. It's true, my father hardly ever pays me, and when he does it's usually only a few bucks. My mother on the other hand is a bit more generous when it comes to my salary. The only time my income is large, is the rare occasion when I either find money on the ground or when my birthday rolls around. Oh yeah I had forgotten to tell you, yesterday was my birthday and I turned 15! Yeah, I had gotten a few nice things from my mom's side of the family, a gift card to Target, a couple of model airplanes from WWII, some Harley Davidson biker boots, oh and a nice bowler hat. The only thing I received from my father's side of the family was some money from my grandmother, which I of course appreciated. The money I received from her would probably get me a full battle deck for Magic the Gathering, plus maybe a few booster packs.

I put on my leather jacket and new boots and hat, and started to walk home with Dave. We walked along the sidewalk, talking about Magic the Gathering, pizza, and somehow we got on to the subject of how much a person uses their brain. We debated about it for quite some time. Being friends with Dave and Richard, another friend of ours in the play, is quite convenient because we walk home in the same general direction, and we can talk about almost anything without an argument starting.

"So how's your 'Frozen' obsession coming along?" Aaron asked me mockingly.

"It is not an obsession!" I protested matter-of-factly, "I think of it as a passion that I am deeply devoted to."

"Whatever."

"What about you?" I asked, "What's the status on your 'Transformers' addiction."

"Touché," he replied.

We continued to walk along the busy street full of cars with people coming home from work. Rehearsals for us usually end around 6 o'clock p.m.; however they can sometimes go as late as 9! We eventually came to the intersection where we go our separate ways, and I continued left to my house. I live quite close to the high school I attend, so there is no need for vehicular transportation, I can merely walk to school. Unfortunately, since I go home late on rehearsal days, a group of swag-thumpers hangs out in the parking lot of an old gas station and I have to suffer their remarks. Most people would call them swag-fags; however I've learned to call them a more sophisticated name: swag-thumpers. They're the kind of people who never take off their snap-backs and always have their pants sagging. I find them absolutely revolting; most of all their attitude.

"Hey!" one of them yelled at me to get my attention, "Top of the mornin' to ya!" I could tell he was making reference to my bowler hat.

"Would you like a cup of tea sir?" another remarked. They say some of the stupidest things; their insults aren't even that hurtful. They're just downright annoying. Thankfully I eventually became out of view of them, and their remarks were no longer audible. Swag-thumpers are the number one thing I hate about this world, one of many. I wish I could move to another state, like Montana; someplace where swag-thumpers are at the absolute minimum; somewhere cold and white in the winter. Ever since I first saw "Frozen" I have wanted to be cold and at peace, in a palace of ice like Elsa's; a place I can think, and not have to worry about those vermin swags biting at my feet.

**Chapter: 2**

The street I live on is a quiet one, with big trees making a canopy over the asphalt, and flowers in the front yard of every house. Red roses in the front of the white house, yellow tulips in the front of the brick house, and blue iris in the front of the lavender house. My house, the green one, had the most foliage in the whole neighborhood. A big oak stood over half of the green grass, red roses and orange lilies lined the base of the front, and the back was home to a large group of blue and purple iris. Sure it may be luscious on the outside, but when my dad's home, the inside is torture. Luckily for me, his car was not in the driveway, only my mom's white PT Cruiser. I turned the brass knob of the front door and calmly entered the living room, sure that I wouldn't have to feel my father's wrath. I headed down the hall to my room so that I could drop off my things; however a large man with a forest of hairs growing on his arms blocked my path.

"Where have you been?" my father asked angrily, and I knew he had probably been waiting for me to come home just so that he could yell at me.

"I told you yesterday that I had rehearsals today after school," I said in defense.

"No you didn't, you never told me anything about staying after school!"

"Yes I did, I distinctly remember doing so", I replied trying to get past him and into the sanctuary of my room, "Excuse me."

"I would appreciate it if you would tell me where you're going after school," he said ignoring me.

"I did so," I replied again, this time with more pressure in my voice in an effort to emphasize my statement. I squeezed past his bulk, miraculously, and entered the sanctity of my bedroom. I closed the door behind me to keep my father out, and placed my backpack on my bed. My room had a nice, gentle glow due to the rays of the sunset reflecting off the pale yellow walls of my room, causing everything to light up. Models of old planes stood on stands atop my dresser, and a computer sat on my desk. A white bookshelf stood against the wall next to my desk, with books neatly organized on the shelves. Contrary to the crude stereotype about teenagers, my room is actually quite neat and organized.

I took my script out of my backpack and began to read over my character's lines within my head; however I was interrupted by a gentle rapping at my door. I was not afeared, for I recognized the rapping to be of my mother's hand. She opened my door and entered with some folded clothes in her arms.

"I've got some clean clothes for you to put away", she said calmly as I took the clothes from her arms, the majority of them being shirts and socks, "How're the rehearsals going?"

"We're almost there, only a few problems stand in our way of putting on the production tomorrow", I said, "Lines, acting… and lines."

"Your classmates don't have it quite right yet do they?" she asked.

"No they do not", I continued, "They either keep messing up their lines, or their acting skills are inferior to a kindergartener. The only ones who have a handle on the play are Dave and me. Richard is getting there, but he still has some problems with the last scene."

"I also came to tell you that your great aunt Julie sent you a check for your birthday," mom said changing the subject and handing me an ornate envelope.

"Oh, did she now!" I exclaimed, "I'll be sure to cash it sometime soon." I took the envelope from her hands and took out the contents which consisted of a birthday card and sure enough; a check for 25 dollars.

"Well I'll leave you to your lines," mom said smiling before leaving.

"And when I'm all finished, I'll watch 'Frozen'," I said to her as she walked out through the doorway. I proceeded to read over the entirety of my lines with next to no trouble whatsoever, and then read over them again. I was nearing the end of my _third_ round of memorizing when I realized that it was awful quiet in the room next to me, and I realized there was an absence of little sister in the house. My younger sister, Samantha, shared my love of "Frozen" and practically mirrored my passion for it. She herself even managed to get her hands on a Disney doll of both Anna and Elsa from the movie. I am personally astounded at the fact that she managed to obtain them, for "Frozen" merchandise is infamously hard to buy due to a supply and demand problem. When I went with my sister to the Disney store at the nearby galleria, we had to arrive there at the opening time, and there was already a tremendous line just waiting to get in. And all for "Frozen" merchandise! When I first saw "Frozen", I was completely unaware of how many people around the nation shared my love for the movie and its characters.

**Chapter: 3**

I went to bed that night to the sound of my father and mother arguing… again. I couldn't discern what they were arguing about this time, I instead did my best to block out their battle from my mind. I tried to think of the play and the day of production. I kept playing what I thought the scenes to be in my head; no one messed up; no one forgot their lines; no one faltered.

Of course, in reality we might do just that; mess up; forget our lines; and falter beyond comprehension. But then again, there is always hope; hope that we may give the audience a splendid performance.

I awoke in the morning to the sound of the larks chirping in the oak tree outside my window. Not a single car could be heard, not a single manmade sound to be perceived. But that's only because I woke up at 6 in the morning. It's become a habit, as if there is an internal alarm clock inside my mind which wakes me up at 6 on schooldays and any old time on the weekends. Since I head over to school early, I immediately started getting dressed, putting on a plain yellow t-shirt, my standard black jeans, and boring old white socks. The entire house was silent, save for my steps down the hall and into the kitchen, where I fixed myself a bowl of Reese's Puffs. I ate slowly, savoring the peanut butter taste, which I go nuts over. After my breakfast I looked at the clock to find that I still had about 15 minutes to burn, which I gladly invested into memorizing my lines some more. I can swear that the entire play is burned into my mind; my eyes could still see the words after I lifted them up from the script booklet. When the time came for me to start heading over to school, 7 a.m., I put on my jacket and hat, slung my backpack over my back, and headed out into the cool, southern Californian morning.

School was its usual self: boring. The only class I legitimately enjoy is theatre, which is unfortunately the last period on my schedule. That means I have to go through 5 hours of painstaking classes such as geometry, language arts, and biology. Actually biology for me isn't actually that bad, after all I am the fastest in that class. However there is one good thing that comes out of my theatre class being the last of the day: I can just stay there for rehearsals after school! My good friend David shares that period with me, which is altogether an advantage.

"I got my hands on some of the new cards!" he exclaimed, excitement shining in his eyes.

"Oh yeah?" I replied, "What's the theme of the new pack?"

"Well the setting is still Theros, and the creatures are still mythical monsters", Dave explained, "But there are some pretty powerful cards"

He went on to explain some of the new effects the cards have, and he showed me some of the new artwork on them. The teacher, Mrs. Williams eventually had to tell us to put the cards away and get back to our notes, and we of course reluctantly obeyed. We were researching Ancient Greek theatre; not exactly my favorite section of theatre. However we did find out that all Ancient Greek plays were in honor of their god of wine and basically partying, which I found quite interesting.

The period crawled by, taking its jolly old time in finishing, however after what seemed like a decade, the bell rang for us to be released. The class left for their homes, save for Dave and I and a few other students who were a part of the "Moon over Buffalo" play. We headed into the theatre, the classroom being adjacent to the large auditorium, and sat down in the house seats waiting for the day's rehearsal to begin. Dave continued to tell me about the cards he obtained in the last day, and I must admit that he got quite a few that would do considerable damage to my decks. I knew at once that I would have to cash the check from my great aunt quickly so that I could by some of the new cards out on the market. If I combined the money from my Grandmother and the check from my great aunt, I would have a total budget of 40 dollars. That would get me quite sum of new cards to annihilate Dave's alleged "army". Dave's deck consists of creatures based off earth and trees, which in the game means his deck revolves around large creatures and spells that make them grow even more. My personal taste in decks is based on death and fire, which in combination, means my decks revolve around speed and life-loss for my opponent. My little sister even has a Magic deck, hers being based off water, earth, and light. That makes her deck… well I don't even know for certain. All I know is that her deck is quite pathetic against mine. However she has been considering making an all earth deck, which could actually pose a threat to me.

When Mrs. Williams noticed that a large portion of the cast and crew members were chatting in the rows of seats facing the large stage, she started the rehearsal by taking attendance. She read from the clipboards through her spectacles all the names of the cast and crew members. When she got to Dave's name, he raised a dark hand and replied with a loud "here". When she called Henry Dietrich, I raised my pale hand and responded with a goofy "halloo". Mrs. Williams looked sternly at me over her thick-brimmed glasses and continued with attendance.

"Why do people still call you by your full name?" Dave whispered to me, I shrugged in response.

Yeah, my full name is Henry but all my friends and my family call me "Hank". I'm named after my mother's father, who unfortunately died before I was born. However my mother does say that my grandfather had always wanted a son.

Mrs. Williams called Richard's name but there was no response, Dave and I simply assumed that he was arriving late as usual. However, when rehearsal officially started, and everyone was running through their lines, he still failed to show up.

"You think he might have got stuck in traffic?" I asked I buttoned up my costume, which consisted of a brown suit and a black and red stripped tie.

"Well he does have to drive like, what… four miles through that freeway that's always under construction?" Dave replied as he straightened his black tie with some difficulty. After some persuasion, I helped him adjust it properly.

"I still think you should have picked a clip-on," I told him, but he merely waved me away and started out onto the stage.

When we joined the rest of the small cast we realized that something was wrong. No one else was in costume! Mrs. Williams marched up to us and told us to get back in there and change back into normal attire.

"But Mrs. Williams aren't we doing a full dress rehearsal?" I asked calmly wondering what was wrong.

"Not any more", she replied angrily, "Since no one has memorized even half their lines, we are only doing lines today."

"We were not informed of such an amendment" I replied still calmly, gesturing to Aaron and me.

"Oh, well, alright," she said, "I'll let you slide this time, but only because you two are the only ones who know their lines."

As we headed back into the dressing room, Dave and I couldn't help but joke about Mrs. Williams.

"What's the big deal?" Dave wondered, "It's only a simple mistake, I mean it's not like we showed up wearing nothing, right?"

"That would have been interesting!" I laughed.

"Also did you notice how she said none of us knew half our lines, and yet she said that we were the only ones that knew them all?" Dave continued.

We finished dressing back into our regular clothes and headed back onto the stage just in time for the scene in which I first arrive. I got ready behind the set door waiting for my queue, and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Alexia replied.

I knocked again as it said in the script and she replied, "I said come in."

I knocked a final time and this time she yelled, "Come in please, the door is open!"

"Sweetheart?" I asked, peeking through the doorway.

The scene continued just as it was written in the script, for once, without any interruptions from Mrs. Williams. Everything was going fine, until something unexpected happened; something I couldn't explain at the moment; something _very_ unusual. I was saying my lines with absolute passion for the production, when I heard a sort of whooshing sound, like wind blowing and water flowing at the same. I didn't realize what had happened, until Alexia's blue eyes stared right at me in absolute amazement. I then realized she was not looking _at_ me, but_ behind_ me. I turned around slowly to see what she was staring at with such wide eyes, to find a large disk of blue and white light glowing brightly behind me. Light blue mist fell in swirling puffs at the base of the upright disk, and white circles of light radiated out of the center and reached the outer rim of the cirlce. A thousand possibilities flew through my mind as to what it could be, cosmic phenomena, a hallucination, or perhaps a portal to another world. I found out the last to be true, for a small gloved hand; a child's hand, broke the glowing surface of the portal!

The hand extended to an arm dressed in purple, and suddenly a whole body emerged from the disk! Now I said before that the portal's being alone was unusual, but what really boggled my mind was the being that came _through_ the portal. It was a small child, no more than 9 years old, dressed in a purple and black dress, and wearing her snow white hair in a single braid behind her small head. Now for those of you who have not yet deduced it, the identity of this small girl was none other than the young Elsa from the Disney's "Frozen"! Her light blue eyes darted back and forth at the alien sight of the high school theatre, first in amazement then in fright. I could completely understand at the shock of suddenly being thrown into such a strange and different world than Arendelle, her home.

"Elsa?" I asked as calmly as I could. This merely startled her, and threw her into hysterics.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?" she asked in a most distressed manner, "WHERE AM I? WHAT IS GOING ON?"

"Elsa, just calm down, breathe slowly," I said in an attempt to keep her from hyperventilating.

"WHO ARE YOU?" she continued to ask questions about her whereabouts, and began to run off the stage and into the house.

"Elsa!" I called after her, "Don't! Come back!"

I followed her off the stage and up into the house, with Dave trailing close behind.

"No, stay here. I'll get her," I told him to keep him from following me. Elsa's actions are actually quite understandable; after all she has just been thrown into a world she knows nothing about, and she's scared. Elsa ran up to the doors leading to the lobby and outside and struggled to push open the heavy doors with her frail hands. She managed to get outside and run down the concrete steps that lead up to the theatre lobby. I followed behind, having some difficulty with the door, marching down the steps to the young princess. Elsa's little legs carried her out the front gate of the high school and into the parking lot. My long legs hit each other as I ran down last of the steps, causing me to trip and stumble on the hard concrete, however I quickly regained my stature and continued to pursue young Elsa. By now she was making her way through the parking lot, weaving her way through cars and vans. One of the cars that had just rolled up opened its driver side door and out came Richard. He looked puzzled at the little white-haired girl that ran past him and looked even more puzzled at me following her.

"You alright?" he asked as I ran past him.

I ignored him and continued to run after Elsa who was now reaching the busy street beyond the school parking lot. Not knowing what danger she was putting herself in, she ran right out into the street with oncoming traffic coming from the next intersection.

"Elsa!" I called out as a large, red van approached at top speed; I could have sworn he was not obeying the speed limit! The driver must have been texting (as usual), for the van maintained its rapid speed and heading. I now ran at top speed as the van neared Elsa, who was completely unaware of the fatal danger that threatened her life. When she finally did notice the unknown monster coming at her, she let out a loud scream of fright, and covered her face. I dove at her and caught her, pushing her out of the deadly path of the van. I landed quite painfully on my back, with Elsa safely in my arms. Her small body seemed so meek, so helpless against the dangers of our modern world. She did nothing but stare out into space in shock, hyperventilating. I gently shushed her and stroked her bangs to the side in an effort to calm her down. Her breathing came under control, rapid at first and then calmer and calmer. I helped her slowly to her feet, much to the discomfort of my back, and began to walk her back to the theatre. The van that almost took Elsa's life had skid to a halt and the driver came out running to us.

"Are you guys alright?" she asked with the utmost concern in her voice, mostly focusing on Elsa.

"Yes, we are fine," I replied calmly, "But perhaps next time you are driving you could have the courtesy of looking up from your cell phone and paying attention to the road."

The driver looked shamefully down at her feet, and put her device into her coat pocket. Richard ran up and wondered if we were okay, looking curiously down at the young Elsa.

"Yes, we are quite alright," I stated, and looked at the halted red van, "Perhaps you can take note of her license plate and report her for texting and driving."

"Right," he responded, whipping out his own phone to take a picture of the woman's plate.

"I'm sorry, I really am!" the woman pleaded. I looked at her saddened face, and then down at Elsa's.

"Richard," I said to my friend, "Belay that, but just this once."

"You sure?" he responded.

"Yes," I answered, "But as I said, just this once. The next time someone almost kills me due to their ignorance, they'll get no mercy from me." Richard put away his phone and began to head back to the theatre, pointing his finger warningly at the female driver. I offered my hand to Elsa, and walked her across the street, minding any oncoming traffic. We crossed the parking lot, entered the school gates, and marched back up the steps to the theatre. I held the glass door open for Elsa as she entered the sunlit lobby, and walked through the doors into the dark theatre. As we walked down the aisle towards the stage, all eyes were upon us, watching Elsa and I march up to the stage and to the couch bathed in stage-light. Elsa sat down on the set couch still shaken by the earlier incident.

"Someone get a glass of water please," I requested aloud to the cast. Alexia rushed offstage to fetch the water, and everyone else stared in amazement at the Disney character in front of them.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions you would like answered about your whereabouts," I stated to Elsa as I knelt in front of her.

"Yes," she replied meekly. She looked into my eyes with a mixture of awe and fright.

"Well, which would you like answered first?" I asked, "Or would you like to rest for a bit."

"I'm okay," she answered shakily. I could tell that if she continued to be in distress, her icy powers would get the better of her and she would freeze the entire theatre.

"Okay, but Elsa, I want you to do me a favor," I said, "I want you to calm down, and get comfortable. You are not in any danger anymore; you're perfectly safe here with us the friendly actors at Ramona High School." I gestured to all the cast and crew members behind me, who all waved and smiled in response.

"I think we should introduce ourselves," Alexia proposed, who had returned with a small cup of water for Elsa. Elsa took the water and began to sip it slowly; I could tell she was beginning to calm down.

"Agreed, I think we should break the ice," I said, "No pun intended."

"I see what ya did there," Dave exclaimed in response to my little joke.

Elsa gave a little smile and continued to drink the water. Dave went first, giving his name followed by Richard and then Alexia.

"And I'm Henry," I stated, "But you can call me Hank."

"Hello," Elsa responded politely. I couldn't really think of anything else to do, other than try and figure out something else that would put Elsa at ease, because if she wasn't she would freeze the lot of us. After a bit I got an idea, random as it may be, "Would you like to hear a joke?"

"Sure," she answered quite delightedly as she readjusted herself on the couch.

"Alright… knock, knock," I started, remembering a pretty good one.

"Who's there?" Elsa asked.

"Nobody,"

"Nobody who?"

I said nothing, for it was the best part of the joke.

"Nobody who?" Elsa repeated, and then she realized, "Oh, that's a good one!"

"Thank you", I replied appreciatively, "Now, I think it be best that we answer some of those questions that you might have."

"Well, first I would like to know where I am," she requested.

"Ah, probably the most important one", I started, "You're still on Earth, of course, except you're on the complete other side of it. You're currently in the state of California, in the United States of America."

Elsa looked like she was still absorbing the words I just uttered, with her eyes scrutinizing mine.

"What?" she finally asked in confusion.

"And that's not the best part", I continued, "It is currently the 15th of April, in the year 2014."

Her blue eyes looked as if they would spring from their sockets, displaying absolute disbelief, then absolute astonishment.

"Two-thousand-fourteen?" she repeated in amazement. I nodded in response as she looked away to where the portal used to be. The blue and white dist was now replaced with empty air; it must have closed when I was trying to get Elsa.

"We're just as confused as you are right now, Elsa," Alexia said, and she was right. We know nothing about how, or _what_ exactly happened just a little while ago. All we know is that we are now in the company of a Disney character straight out of the movie "Frozen".

"She's right," I said, "But I promise you now, that we will try and find out how to get you back to Arendelle."

"And that's another thing," Elsa began, "How do you know my name and where I came from?"

"That one's a little more complicated," I said, "However, I will try my best to answer your question."

I then proceeded to explain to the young princess that she had come out of a movie called "Frozen", and that the movie was supposed to be fiction. I explained that she was in the "Real World", and that she must have come through to our world due to some connection between _it_ and the "Frozen World". After a bit of elaboration and repetition, Elsa began to understand what had happened, and the temperature in the theatre gradually rose back to normal.

"So, I came from a 'movie'?" she asked once again.

"Yes, and quite a loved one if I do say so myself," I responded looking around at the nearby cast members who nodded in agreement. I stood up and excused myself for a while, and called a little meeting backstage with my friends. Dave, Richard, and even Alexia followed me off stage to the prop cabinet.

"So…weird enough for ya?" I asked in a spooky voice.

"Well I'm just excited by the fact that Elsa's here!" Alexia squealed with excitement.

"Yeah, but I noticed, and you guys probably have as well, that she doesn't look animated", Richard stated, "She looks just like a little girl; all live action and whatnot."

"Perhaps, when one crosses to another world the graphics of that world apply to that person", I tried to explain, "Say we went over to the 'Frozen World', we would look animated. Just like everyone else there, and say we all went into the 'Lego World', we would all look like Lego minifigures." Everyone nodded in understanding at my crude explanation, and we then moved on to another matter.

"If she's stuck here," Dave started, "Where's she gonna stay?"

We all agreed that that is an important question, and we decided to take it to Mrs. Williams, for she is the only adult in our company. We walked back onstage and down to the house seats where Mrs. Williams was talking with the assistant principal of the high school, and asked them the same question.

"That's what the assistant principal have been discussing", Mrs. Williams, "And we both agree that she should be put into the care of a foster home for the time being."

"WHAT?" I asked quite loudly, "They'll butcher her in one of those! And besides, she won't have a single chance of getting back home over there!" Everyone on the theatre was staring at me, including Elsa who was still sitting comfortably on the stage couch.

"Well, what do you suggest then, Mr. Dietrich?" the principal asked sternly with his arms crossed. I had to think of a response for a little bit, for I knew to avoid any punishment I would have to tread carefully, but after a while a crazy idea popped in my head. It would be ludicrous, and my family might not agree with it.

"My family could take her", I said firmly, "It would only be for a little while, and in the meantime we could think of a way for her to get back." Everyone who heard me looked at me as if I had just proposed that we put on our play tomorrow. The assistant principal was the only one that looked as if he would consider it.

"All right, but I would like your parents' word of agreement," he said. I knew that my best bet would be to get my mom to do the talking, for my father wouldn't stand for this in the slightest. I asked Richard if I could borrow his cell phone, and called up my house, hopping beyond hope that my mom picks up. And thank the lord, she did.

"Hey, mom, could I ask you an important question?" I started.

"Of course, Hank," she replied.

"Well, first of all, why aren't you at work?" I asked.

"I told you, I have the day off because Samantha's getting an award after school," She replied matter-of-factly.

"Oh, yeah," I continued, "Anyways, I was wondering if we could watch over Elsa from Frozen for a little while." There was no sound on the other line for a bit.

"What?" she asked in disbelief.

I proceeded to explain the entire situation, from Elsa's arrival, to the near death experience with the red van, to the explaining of the situation to Elsa. My mom took a while, taking pauses to think and taking the time to list absolutely everything wrong with the idea, including my father in practically every one. However after much persuasion, a little bit of begging, and a lot of repetition, she eventually gave in to the idea.

"Thanks, mom, and I'll do above and beyond my best to make sure father understands," I concluded and ended the call. The assistant principal was satisfied with my word alone, due to the fact that I have a good reputation in the grade book, and the fact that the assistant principal knows me to be a man of my word. Some of the cast members were talking with Elsa, maybe asking questions about Arendelle or how she got over here when I went up onstage.

"I'll be taking you to my house for the time you are here, you'll be well taken care of over there", I told Elsa on the couch, "Would that be fine with you?" I sat down next to her.

"Sure, that'll be okay," she answered and got up from the couch.

"Okay," I said smiling. Unfortunately I don't know if she'll even be accepted in my house, let alone taken care of. Mrs. Williams called the rehearsal short for the day, due to the unexpected arrival of our guest, and when I asked the time I found it out to be around 5:45. Hearing the time reminded me of the danger posed by the swag-thumpers over at the gas station on the way home. I've experienced some pretty awful insults from them in the past, and I feared what kind of damage they could do with young Elsa in my company. She hasn't been exposed to the harshness of our modern world, and I would wish for her stay here to be as pleasant as possible. But if a pack of swags is going to jeopardize that, I would like to avoid them as much as possible. So instead of taking my default route home, I will instead take the somewhat longer route which will lead us to the opposite side of my neighborhood.

"You ready to go?" I asked Elsa. She nodded and smiled; her smile is so sweet! (Don't judge me.)

"Alright, you ready to go?" I asked Dave and Richard, who both were still putting on their backpacks.

"Yeah, hold up a bit," Dave said who was having some trouble with one of the straps. We marched out the door together and headed for the front gate.

**Chapter: 4**

As we walked out the front gate of the school, Elsa took a hold of my hand and did her best to keep up with me. I naturally walk fast, due to my long legs letting me take long strides, and years of running and walking fast. I've got quite a reputation at my high school for always running to lunch. It's not that I want to be the first to eat, it's the lines. They're horrendous! Everyone at the school files themselves into each of the lunch lines, each of them choosing what type of lunch they want. I always get in line at the barbeque section, and the line there is unorganized and there are always swag-thumpers cutting in the front. That's why I run to lunch, to avoid the lines.

We continued along the same route as Dave and I take, walking past the innumerable apartment complexes, until we came to the intersection where he and I split up. Instead of going down the normal path I take, Elsa and I crossed the street and headed left, and avoided the swags waiting for us at the gas station. All the while we were walking Elsa's bright eyes took in the alien world around her. She found the overhead street lamps to be the most intriguing thing to her, wondering and asking me questions about how they give off light. I told her the basics about our modern electrical system, and how practically everything we use in the modern world relies on elecricity.

"What would happen if all the power went out in the world?" Elsa asked. I assumed what she asked was rhetorical, even though I answered anyway.

"Well, people in places like New York City and Los Angeles would be very unhappy, not to mention the countless people that own cell phones. I'll tell you one thing though."

"What's that?" Elsa wondered.

"We would be able to see all the stars again," I said pointing to the now pale orange sky.

We rounded the corner of the opposite side of neighborhood, and Elsa looked happier than she ever has since she arrived here. She marveled at the green trees and colorful gardens, and when we arrived at my house, her face lit up and a lovely smile of contentment shone across her face.

"Here we are," I said gesturing to the green house in front of us. If I were to describe the look of our house with one word, it would have to be _nature_. Because it looked as if our house captured the very essence of all that was good and green in our torn apart world. Our house was proof that there was still some natural beauty in the rapidly growing urban planet. Elsa let go of my hand and slowly walked onto the flawless green grass, and absorbed the environment around her. She ran her hands through the fragile tulips and smiled like I've never seen her before, not even in the movie. She seemed to bring out the best in our front yard; adding a touch of innocence to the green landscape. It looked like something out of a painting; like something out of a fairy tale.

"Arendelle doesn't even have gardens like this", Elsa stated in awe, "Not even in the palace."

"All that's missing is a fountain," I added. It was true; a garden fountain would be the perfect addition to the front yard. Father actually has been talking about getting a stone fountain, he would have me take care of it and maintain the plumbing, but it would be worth it entirely.

"Would you like to come inside?" I asked as Elsa took notice of the cat. It is quite a large cat, all black with a red collar. I named him Smokey when he was a kitten, and since I proved to be the best at getting along with him, he became rightfully mine. Elsa knelt down to stroke Smokey's head, and being the friendly feline he was, he gladly invited her to do so, even going so far as to roll over on his back asking her to rub his belly. Instead Elsa stood back up and began making her way to the wooden front door, leaving Smokey behind unsatisfied. I opened the door and let Elsa step into the living room where my sister sat with a certificate and ribbon of some sort.

"Who's that?" she asked as if she hadn't seen her before in her life.

"Do you not recognize her?" I asked, provoking Samantha's mind to remember. She merely looked confused at Elsa's face, trying to remember her obvious identity.

"Show her," I said to Elsa after Samantha failed to remember after a while. Elsa looked up at me with a worried face, but I assured her with a smile. She took off one of her gloves and, using her icy powers, made a burst if ice and snow erupt from her palm. Now I could tell Samantha remembered, for her eyes widened to approximately the size of dinner plates.

"Elsa?" she practically screamed, "From 'Frozen'?" She got up from the couch completely forgetting about her award, and ran up to Elsa to examine her for some reason. She continued to ask questions, "But how?"

"She came through to our world via portal," I explained… again, "We were in the middle of rehearsing when, boom! A portal popped out of nowhere." Samantha got up and went over to the large couch to grab her award and show it off to me, as if she had already forgotten about Elsa.

"I got it for perfect attendance!" She explained, holding it to my face and making sure that I read every single word on the certificate.

"Yes, yes, very nice", I said, pushing the award out of my face, "But if you'll excuse me, we have a guest to attend to." Elsa smiled up at my little sister, who despite being at least two years older, stood a foot taller than Elsa. This prompted me to ask, "Say Elsa, how old are you exactly. I've watched the 'Frozen' movie over and over, but I've never been able to pinpoint your age."

"Oh, I'm 9 and a half", She answered smiling up at me, "What about you?"

"I just turned 15 two days ago, and Samantha here is turning 11 in May," I said pointing to my little sister.

"Oh, happy late birthday then!" Elsa said to me cheerfully.

"Thank you", I replied appreciatively, "Now, would you like to see the rest of the house?" Elsa nodded and followed me into the kitchen. Our kitchen is a simple one, with a white oven and refrigerator and a wide tile counter between them against the far wall. The other counter against the adjacent wall had a microwave and knife rack resting on it, and a porcelain sink resting underneath a wide window, which looked out upon the front yard. I proceeded to explain carefully and simply to Elsa the function of each appliance, starting with the fridge and ending at the microwave. I opened up a couple of the cabinets and showed her some of the foods we have in our modern world, from cornflakes to my Reese's Puffs, to potato chips to cat food. I then opened up the fridge to show her some of our cold foods, and when I opened the white door, Elsa sighed contentedly at the rush of cool air coming from the tall contraption. I showed her the packets of cheese and ham in one of the drawers and the jugs of soda and milk and other assorted drinks resting on the shelves.

As soon as we were finished looking at the kitchen, I showed her the living room with a flat-screen television and a rather extensive library of DVDs and VHSs. Yes, our family still has video tapes, believe it or not. I refused to show her the "Frozen" movie, contrary to my sister's recommendations, and instead showed her some other titles such as Les Miserables and Schindler's List. Then when we finished taking a quick look at the living room, I took Elsa down the hall to the bedrooms, giving her a quick peek at my parents' room and Samantha's room, and arriving at my room. The glow which I had described earlier did not light up the room right now, for the sun had already descended under the horizon, leaving the sky purple and black with the slight twinkling of a few stars here and there. There I showed Elsa my computer, which I briefly explained the function of, and my bookshelf and then I gave her a brief description of each of my model planes. Of course I told her what an airplane is and a little bit how it works, and of course the function of each one. She found them most interesting, probably because of the fact that their real life counterparts can actually fly, or perhaps because there are so many types of airplanes out there.

"Well, what do you think?" I asked Elsa who was examining a model of a B-17.

"I think it's nice", she answered respectfully, putting the model back on its stand, "But where will I be sleeping?" I hadn't actually thought of that!

"Well, you could sleep in my room," Samantha offered.

"That's perfect," I added. Elsa gladly accepted her offer, and she showed her the room.

Samantha's room is the complete opposite of my own. Hers is not neat and up kept in the slightest. A sea of papers and toys limited the walking space in there, and her bookshelf had books stacked on each other and jammed in awkward positions. The only thing that even looked remotely tidy was her white dresser and desk, upon which sat a computer identical to mine. However there were still knick-knacks scattered here and there on her dresser and her desk needed a good wiping down. If Elsa was to sleep in this mess, it would have to go through a major cleanup.

"Would you like some help cleaning up?" I asked Samantha mockingly. She looked at me angrily, but she knew that I was right, I could tell by the embarrassed look in her eyes. She and I immediately began picking up scattered school papers and toys off the floor, and I must say I was a bit surprised to see Elsa helping us; in fact she seemed to do the best job. After we finally could see the carpet again, I brought in the vacuum cleaner and got to work on it; to be honest I had almost forgotten the color of the carpet. We did some work on the dresser and desk, I even was able to fix a few loose screws. While we were putting away some toys we found under the bed, mom came in and interrupted us for a bit.

"Hey, you're back home," she said, and then she noticed Elsa, "Oh, hello, Elsa."

"Hello," she replied cheerfully.

"Yeah this is my mom, I got her permission to take you in," I said.

"Oh," Elsa replied as she continued to put away toys.

"How long will she be staying with us?" Mom asked.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure", I answered, "Just until we can find a way for her to return to Arendelle."

"How long will _that_ take?" Mom continued.

"I don't know," I continued, "All I know is that she came here through a portal, and we're going to have to send her _back_ through another." Mom looked skeptical at my response, but who could blame her. It was a guess, but an educated one. We continued to tidy up my sister's room until it looked livable again.

"I could sleep on the floor, and you can have the bed," Samantha offered.

"Are you sure?" Elsa replied.

"Yeah, it's okay", Samantha answered back; "I've done it before when my friend slept over."

"Okay, thanks," Elsa said appreciatively.

Just when we started to settle down for the night, I could hear heavy footsteps coming down the hall, and I knew what was coming.

"Dad's coming," I said to Samantha and Elsa. Samantha knew the threat that our father posed, and that he could easily revoke our hospitality of Elsa. If he did, she would have nowhere to go; nowhere but a foster home. As the footsteps grew louder, I prepared for the worst. However there was a certain tone in the steps that I could make out to not be of anger, or frustration. Father's footsteps where somewhat lighter, as if his mood was calmer than usual, however I would have to find out for certain for he walked right to Samantha's doorway and looked in right at Elsa sitting at the edge of the bed. He looked at her for a bit and then at the ground, as if he were about to say something he wasn't sure was right for him.

"Alright," was all he said then left to go to his bedroom. I had a hard time understanding what he meant at first; my mind couldn't fully grasp his words, then I realized.

"What just happened?" Samantha wondered at this pleasant surprise.

"Father just agreed to let us take in Elsa!" I exclaimed in amazement and delight. I couldn't believe that a tyrant such as our father would permit such an unorthodox action. I started to wonder if there was a catch, but I dismissed the thought, all I had to be concerned about at the moment, was how to get Elsa back before father changed his mind.

When the time came for us to go to sleep, Elsa brought up the fact that she had no sleepwear with her. My sister couldn't think of anything to do, so of course it was up to me again to think of something.

"Why not just let her borrow some of your old nightgowns," I suggested. Samantha agreed and opened her closet which was full of her old clothes that mom wouldn't part with. She pulled out a selection of her old nightgowns that were now too small for her, but would fit Elsa nicely. I of course excused myself from the room to give her some privacy, and went back to my room to read over my lines again. Yes, I'm reading my lines _again_. I think I could single-handedly pull off the entire play just by myself, I knew it so well. My skills would be put to the ultimate test soon; we would be performing on Friday, which is 4 days from now.

Elsa finished getting dressed and she presented herself to Samantha to see what she thought. She even wanted to see what I thought, and I must say that the lavender night dress complimented her fair skin quite well. Samantha went to bed and Elsa was about to follow when she stopped by my room.

"Good night, Hank", she said, "And thanks."

"Ah, well", I responded, "You'll be back in Arendelle in no time."

"No", she continued, "Thanks, for saving me from that red thing."

"You are very much welcome," I respectfully replied.

Elsa smiled and went off to bed, and I was left sitting on the end of my bed with my script in my hands. I just now realized that if she had died today, not only would I never forgive myself, but the entire "Frozen" movie would be changed forever. There wouldn't be any coronation, no ice palace, no real good ending. There wouldn't be anyone to decline her younger sister's wish to marry Hans, but then again her sister wouldn't even want to get married to Hans because he never would have come to Arendelle if there wasn't going to be any coronation. The whole idea gave me a headache, so I decided to just go to bed and sleep it off.

**Chapter: 5**

I woke up in the middle of the night, not because I was disturbed, I just wake up in the middle of the night at random sometimes. When I do I usually go out to the kitchen to get a glass of milk to quench my midnight thirst. Milk is by far my favorite drink, I don't know why. But I'll tell you that I drink a lot of it, and it's really gotten to my bones. It might have even contributed to my height; I'm 6 feet tall, towering over most of my class.

I awoke the next morning and followed my usual routine of getting up early and having breakfast, then getting dressed and heading off to school at 7 in the morning. When I started walking, I realized that with my sister gone to school, and my mom at work, no one will be home to watch over Elsa except dad. I sort of panicked silently to myself for a minute or two, until I remembered that mom had gotten a different work shift at the hospital, so she won't have to go to work until 4 in the afternoon. She'll be home while I'm gone, and I'll have time until rehearsal starts after school to head home quickly and bring Elsa back with me to watch us rehearse. I'm sure Mrs. Williams wouldn't mind.

I arrived at school and carried out my same old, boring schedule. P. E. in the morning, Geometry next, then French, and then Language Arts before lunch. I embraced my brief break from school work, running over to lunch and bringing it back to the theatre classroom, where Mrs. Williams lets some of her students eat during lunch. I arrived just in time as Dave and Richard where about to go inside.

"Guten tag," I greeted them in German.

"Oh, hey, man!" Dave responded. I went up to him and shook his hand the old fashioned way; I personally am not a fan of all these complicated handshakes that people do nowadays.

"So, did your father let you take Elsa in?" Richard asked.

"Yeah, he did", I answered, "For some strange reason. I don't know if my mom convinced him, or we caught him in a rare good mood."

"Well that's good, in a surprising way," he said back as we entered the colorful theatre classroom. The classroom wasn't your ordinary high school classroom; it had a wide mirror against the side wall and tables beneath it for make-up, and the opposite wall was gone, replaced with another smaller room for costume storage and changing.

"Dave here was just going on again about his new cards," Richard said, sitting down in one of the seats and placing his lunch tray on his lap.

"The same ones?" I asked.

"No, I got new ones," Dave said cheerfully as he dug into his backpack and pulled out an entirely new deck, all green of course.

"Well, give me a chance to catch up, okay?" I said, opening a packet of ketchup and pouring it on my cheeseburger, "I still haven't been able to get my hands on any cards."

"So, how's Elsa coming along at your place?" Richard asked.

"Well she got comfortable rather quickly, and she'll be sleeping in my sister's room of course", I explained, "She seems to like the front yard a lot."

"Well it does look like something out of a Disney cartoon", Dave joked, taking a bite out of his chicken sandwich, "Have you thought of a way to get her back to wherever she came for from?"

"It hasn't even been a full day since she's been here; do really think I would have thought of something that fast?" I asked sternly before taking a sip of my milk.

"Well you are a fast thinker, and you do think of some pretty ingenious stuff," Richard said.

"Well that's true, but…," I replied, "What about you guys? What have you thought of?"

"I ain't found out shit", Dave replied vulgarly, "Oh, sorry."

"Mind thy tongue, fair maiden," I joked. Dave punched my arm in response, but we all laughed at my remark.

"Maybe the portal works on a calendar system," Richard thought, "What if there was a way for two worlds to become aligned for a certain amount of time, and during that time you could go back and forth between them."

"So, you're suggesting that we just wait for the worlds to become aligned again?" I asked skeptically, "When will that be?"

"I don't know, it's just a thought," he answered. I have to say it is a pretty interesting thought, and it could as well be true; we would just have to be at the right spot at the right time.

"Well, if that is the case, try to find out _when_ the portal will open again," I suggested to both Dave and Richard.

"Maybe there's a certain ritual that has to be performed", Dave said, "Maybe we have to do some sort of sacrifice, or do some weird dance."

"No offence, Aaron, but your ideas are by far the most outlandish I've ever heard," I said chuckling.

"No, no, what if we gotta chant something in an ancient language?" Dave continued, "Maybe this portal thing isn't as complicated as it seems. What if all we have to do is some sort of spell, like in Harry Potter?"

"Aaron, my friend," Richard said, "Stop watching so many fantasy movies."

Lunch finished and we were forced to go to our final two periods of the day, for me it was Biology and finally Theatre. Theatre class rolled around faster than I expected, for we watched a movie on the rainforest ecosystem all class time long in Biology. We continued studying Greek Drama in theatre class, as boring as it was, however near the end of class Mrs. Williams let those of us in the Moon over Buffalo play practice our lines and everyone else could have free time. Instead of reading over my lines, like you would probably expect me to, I instead went over to Mrs. Williams' desk to ask her about Elsa.

"Mrs. Williams, I was wondering if it could be possible for me to bring Elsa with me to rehearsals for the time she's here." I asked politely, "She wouldn't be a problem; she could watch us from the house seats."

"Why?" Mrs. Williams asked in response, "I'm not saying I'm disagreeing, but why can't she stay at your house like we agreed?"

"Well, because when my mom goes to work at 4 o' clock, there won't be any one to watch over while I'm at rehearsal," I replied.

"Won't your father be there?" she asked back.

"Exactly, I don't want to leave here there alone with him", I stated, "And my sister will be at karate classes during that time." Mrs. Williams thought about it for a minute, and eventually gave in; telling me that I mustn't be late and that Elsa must be on good behavior.

"Oh, that won't be a problem," I stated, just before the bell rang that dismissed us from school. I grabbed my things and headed home quickly, for I had only 20 minutes before rehearsals started after school. When I arrived home, I had 11 minutes left before I would be marked late and I don't really want to put a black mark on my record. Elsa was in the living room with Samantha, about to watch a movie on the T.V.

"Elsa, would you like to come with me to rehearsals?" I asked politely, a little out of breath though.

"But Samantha and I were just about to watch 'Frozen'," She replied holding up the DVD case.

"Don't watch it yet, it could be dangerous," I said sternly, calmly taking the case from her and putting the disk back in, "Don't even look at the case. I'm not trying to be mean; I just wouldn't want you to know too much about your future." Elsa nodded in understanding, with a look of disappointment on her face.

"Now come on, would you like to come with me?" I asked again.

"Okay, sure," Elsa answered, getting up from the couch and walking to the door slowly. We walked outside onto the side walk and started back for the school.

"I'm sorry if I acted rashly back there," I said to Elsa, apologizing.

"No, it's okay", she responded with a hint of happiness coming back into her voice, "After all, I'm going to be living the movie anyways, right?"

"That's even better", I said, "I mean, if you watched your life, you would already know what you're going to do. It would be quite dangerous to know too much of your future."

"Yeah, I guess so," Elsa replied agreeing with me.

We arrived at the school about a minute late for rehearsals; a forgivable fault. We entered the theatre through the classroom, greeting the cast members and them greeting us; mostly Elsa. I showed her around the extremities of the theatre, giving her a tour of the stage, the house, backstage, and the classroom. She found the costume department most interesting, looking at the colorful dresses and suits. I put on my costume and asked her opinion, which she expressed to be greatly approving.

"Hey, if it isn't our little VIP guest herself," Dave said cheerfully entering the room, and offering his hand to her.

"Hello, Dave," she said, shaking his outreached hand.

"You remember me?" he asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, I couldn't forget a person like you," she replied back, and I think I knew what she meant. Elsa grew up in Arendelle, Norway where there aren't many African-Americans. She wasn't trying to be rude of course.

"Oh migosh is that Elsa from Frozen?" a cheerful, feminine voice called from the back of the classroom. We all looked in the direction of the voice and saw one of the cast members approaching rapidly.

"Oh, hello, Misty", I said, greeting her as she examined Elsa, "And yes, this is Elsa."

"Oh migosh, I didn't know they were telling the truth!" she said excitedly, "They told me that Elsa from "Frozen" had come through some sort of portal, but I thought they were just playin' around!" Misty proceeded to introduce herself to Elsa, and list every reason she loved the movie.

"Uh, Misty, don't tell her anything about the movie", I said, cautioning her, "She shouldn't know what she does in her future."

"Oh, sorry, I'm just so excited!" she replied.

"I'll bet you are," I said.

The rehearsal schedule continued according to plan; we ran through the entire play and then looked over any problems or improvements that could be made. Elsa sat in the audience next to Mrs. Williams the entire time, watching every move the characters made and absorbing the entire play.

"I'm happy to say that most of you know your lines now", Mrs. Williams said in the end, "But I think there's still room for improvement when it comes to projecting." Projecting is when you make your voice loud enough to hear so that everyone in audience can hear you. We don't yell; we simply make our voices louder by speaking from our diaphragm and not our throat. Not to be patting myself on the back or anything, but I think I'm pretty good, along with Dave who naturally speaks loudly.

"Well that's all I have to say", Mrs. Williams said, "Would you like to say anything about their performance?" She looked to Elsa, asking her opinion.

"I think everyone was pretty good, especially Dave who I could have heard a mile away", Elsa stated with a chuckle, "But I do think that Richard could work on his energy, you know, put more feeling into his lines." I must say that Elsa sounds like she really knows what she's doing.

"Oh yes, I noticed that", Mrs. Williams said, agreeing with Elsa, "Richard, I do think you can put more enthusiasm into your lines. Waken yourself up before you come here; drink some coffee or something."

"Sure, Mrs. Williams," Richard replied respectfully, but I could detect a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

"All right, if no one else has anything else to say I think we could wrap things up for the day," Mrs. Williams said, dismissing us. There was sort of a lively buzz as people moved back and forth, moving props and set pieces back to their storage spaces. Me and the rest of the male cast members had to wait for the girls to finish changing in the dressing rooms, and since they take forever, we took the time to discuss the portal situation.

"Have ya found out anything about the portal yet," Dave asked Richard and me.

"Not me," I answered.

"I've been researching the day that Elsa came here, seeing if there was anything special about that particular date in history," Richard stated.

"And have you found out anything?" I asked as the dressing room became available for us men.

"Not yet", Richard responded, "But I'll keep looking."

"You do that," I said, unbuttoning my brown suit and taking off my tie.

We gathered our things and headed for the door to head home, with cast and crew members saying goodbye to Elsa. Richard walked to his car and started up the engine to head over to his house down by the airport.

"Hey, why didn't you go your normal way home yesterday?"Dave asked.

"Well, you know that group of swag-thumpers that hangs out at the old gas station?" I answered, with Elsa next to me holding my hand.

"Yeah," Dave replied with disgust in his voice.

"Well I didn't want to go past them with Elsa with me," I said looking down at her.

"Oh, good idea," he responded as we neared the part where our paths go their separate ways. Just like yesterday, Elsa and I took the alternate route to the rear of my neighborhood. We arrived at the house with dad in the front yard watering the roses along the base of the house, so we tried to be as quiet as possible going inside.

"Hey Hank", Elsa started as we entered the living room, "What are 'swag-thumpers'?"

"Oh, those are a certain type of people in this world that take pleasure in annoying people", I explained, "Sometimes they can do real harm, but most of the time they're just ankle-biters. They usually wear hats with a brim only on the front, and they usually wear their pants low, so that their underwear show a bit. Don't ask why, because I don't know. They're a very weird breed of person, and they should be avoided as much as possible, however if one starts talking to you just ignore him."

"Okay," Elsa said somewhat confused as she headed to the bathroom to wash up.

**Chapter: 6**

Dinner that night was the normal dinner that happens every night at my house. Since father doesn't cook for everyone, and since mom is at work, we fixed dinner for ourselves. I don't usually cook for everyone, but since we had a guest, I thought I would fix a pot of Mac & Cheese for the lot of us. It was the first time Elsa has had Mac & Cheese, however she became instantly in love with the cheesy noodles in her bowl; she loved it so much that she asked for seconds, and when she asked for thirds I had to say no because there was no more left. I promised that if she wanted, I would make a bowl for just her and me tomorrow night.

The next morning came a lot more quickly than last night's, and the school day lasted a lot shorter than anticipated. We had a substitute teacher for both geometry and theatre, so those classes seemed to be the fastest; the students were given a short assignment and when we finished we could have the rest of the period to ourselves. I took this time to practice my drawing skills; drawing all sorts of dragons, and beasts, and other sorts of fantasy creatures. Another thing I had forgotten to tell you about me is that I have some good drawing skills. People are always complimenting on my sketches of people and dragons, so I must be pretty good at it.

Due to the fact that we had a substitute for theatre class, we had no rehearsal after school, so I was free to go home that day. However when I did arrive home, I found that I would not be as free as I had hoped. My father gave me the honor of grooming and watering the front yard. When I say grooming and watering, I mean everything! I would have to attend to the tulips, the roses, the iris and other assorted flowers, the bushes, the grass, even the oak tree! It's not that I don't like the work; it's the _amount_ of work that gets shoved in my face. So, faced with my new quest, I went to the tool shed in the backyard and fetched almost the entire shed, and brought it out to the front. I grabbed the shears from the pile of assorted gardening tools I had brought out, and began my work on the bushes, then the flowers and finally the trees. By the time I had finished with round one, mom had gotten into her car to go to work.

"Bye, Hank!" she yelled through the open windshield, "Don't work to hard!" I scoffed as if it were a joke and wiped the sweat from my brow. Now that the assorted plants were pruned, I would begin working on the grass. So I went once again to the back and brought out the lawnmower; checking to make sure it had enough fuel for the task. I was about to start up the mower when Elsa came outside to give me company.

"Hello," I said pleasantly.

"Hi", she replied, "What's that?"

"This is a lawnmower", I began, "I drive it over the grass, and the blades underneath cut it, and the grass goes into the bag in the back here." I pointed to the large, black bag sticking out of the back of the machine.

"Wow, that's neat", Elsa said excitedly, "Can I watch?"

"Sure", I answered, "Just don't get too close, okay?"

"Okay," she replied, as she backed up and sat on the wooden bench on the porch. I pulled back the starting chord to get the thing going, and after a couple of strong tugs the mower's engine turned over and rumbled to life. I started pushing the mower across the lawn, guiding it around pots and bushes, and making sure to avoid rocks. I've done this for so long; years to be exact, I've became a master of the lawn. Every turn and every path was experienced. I got to a part in the lawn where the grass had grown rather tall, causing me to go slower so that the blades could chew up and process the longer grass. I avoided the large vase full of lilies, making tight curves around it to make sure I got as much of the grass at its base, when suddenly a loud and harsh ratcheting sound came from the blades of the lawnmower, and I knew that I had accidently run over a stone.

Running the blades over a stone chips and dulls them, and father gets extremely angry when I do this. I hoped he hadn't heard the loud noise because I knew I would have to suffer him again, and this time in front of Elsa.

"What was that?" dad yelled when he opened the door and stomped outside.

"I had accidently hit a stone," I said shamefully.

"I told you to not do that!" he scolded, "It dulls the blades! You need to really watch where you're going, you know!"

"I didn't see it," I said in weak defense, "It was concealed in the grass. I didn't even know it was there."

"Well you do now don't you?" he asked angrily as I nodded in shame, "What?"

"Yes," I answered aloud this time.

"I really don't like your attitude you know!" he continued, "You really need to straighten up, you punk!"

"Hey, you can't talk to him that way", _Elsa_ said as she marched up to him, "He's your son, not your slave. The only attitude that needs to straighten up here is yours. If he _does_ have an attitude problem, yours is no better, if not worse." I couldn't believe that someone so small could have so much courage.

"Don't you talk to me that way you little…" dad started, raising his hand.

"If you lay one finger on her, I swear I will make the rest of your life as miserable as possible," I said sternly, interrupting him and stepping in front of Elsa. My father was silent for a bit, with an angry look on his face still, as if he was thinking of something else to do. He failed, however, and stormed off into the house.

"He could have hit you," I said to Elsa.

"But he really can't talk to you that way!" she repeated, "He's your father, not your owner!"

"That's actually his philosophy", I said, "He thinks that since he _is_ my father, he can make me do what he wants and treat me the way he wants. To tell the truth Elsa, he's always treated me like that."

"Well that needs to come to an end," she stated firmly. I smiled at her courage, and noticed a thin sheet of ice covering the grass where she stood. Elsa looked down and noticed is as well, suddenly stepping away from it and wearing a look of fear upon her face.

"Don't worry about it," I said softly to her, "Remember, fear is your enemy. Just relax." Elsa let out a low breath and a smile shone across her face again. I smiled back and started up the lawnmower to continue my work on the front yard, of course this time being more careful in the longer grass. After the lawn was completely flat; just a flawless sea of green, I hooked up the water hose and began the third round of my work: watering. This process is probably the easiest for me; next to mowing, I sweep the shower of water across the flower beds and the bushes. After I've gotten all the plants that require manual watering, I hooked up the sprinklers and placed them uniformly over the surface of the grass, and fired it up. Elsa couldn't help but wonder at the entire gardening process. All these modern tools and methods amazed her, from the sprinklers to the lawnmower.

**Chapter: 7**

I finally finished my work after the setting sun painted the sky a scarlet and purple color. Elsa noticed my excessive sweating from the labor this afternoon and walked up to me and asked me to kneel.

"Uh, okay," I said quite confused, kneeling down so that I was eye-to-eye her. Elsa took off the gloves on her hands and raised them, and a gentle blast of blue and white energy sprung from her hands, hitting me in my chest and face and cooling me off immensely.

"Ooh, thank you!" I said in response at the icy chill that now coated me.

"You're welcome," Elsa replied, smiling contentedly.

"Now, what do you say we go inside and have a glass of cold milk?" I suggested, pointing to the kitchen.

"Yeah," she said in agreement, smiling even more. We walked inside to the kitchen and I got a couple of glasses out of the cupboard.

"Is this big enough?" I asked, holding out a medium sized glass to Elsa.

"Yeah, that's good," She answered, taking it from my hands. Mom must have recently gone to the market, for the fridge was in a surplus of groceries, like ham, bread, cheese, soda, and of course, milk. I brought out an already opened jug and poured some in Elsa's glass and mine. We both sat at the table, looking out the window at the beautiful front yard, sipping our glasses in silence. After a while a thought came to my mind.

"Say, Elsa", I started, "What exactly are you capable of, you know, with your ice powers?" Elsa looked a little upset that I had asked, looking down at her half-full glass.

"It's alright; nothing bad's going to happen," I said comfortingly. She thought about it for a second, probably wondering if she could trust me, probably wondering if it was really safe to talk about it. I told her that she could trust me, along with Samantha and my mom. I could see the slightest crack of a smile in the corner of her mouth, and she began to tell me.

"Well, I can make it snow in sort of small areas… um", She explained, trying to think of anything else, "I can make ice, like this one night back at Arendelle. My little sister woke me up in the middle of the night to play. We went out to the throne room and I made it snow, and I made the floor covered in ice. We made a snowman, I made a snow slide; we were having so much fun, until…" She stopped suddenly, and I knew what she was talking about.

"It's alright, I know," I said softly, placing my hand gently on her gloved one.

"It was an accident… honest", she said with tears forming in the corners of her eyes, "I didn't mean it!"

"I know you didn't", I said gently, "Don't feel so bad, she's still alive right?"

"Yeah, but I'm can't see her", she said quietly, "We might as well not be sisters."

"Now see here!", I said surprisingly sternly, "It was an accident that night and Anna lived; there art thou happy. You and Anna very well sisters; there art though happy. And you have every opportunity, and every _right_, to see her; _there_ art though happy!" I borrowed the Friar Lawrence's style from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet tragedy, I know, but I just love those lines and that format.

"But my parents' won't let me," Elsa said back.

"Well that is not right", I said, "But let's stop talking about that. What do you like to do back in Arendelle; what hobbies do you have?" Elsa thought about that for a second, taken aback at the sudden change in subject.

"Well, I like dancing", She finally said, "My parents' had people teach me ballet and some other types."

"Oh, really?" I exclaimed, pleasantly surprised.

"I _used_ to like to build snowmen with my Anna," she said, shrugging.

"What about the portal?" I asked, changing the subject again, "How exactly did you get here?"

"Well, I was in my bedroom, of course, just looking out my window," she explained, "When I noticed a reflection in the glass. I looked around and the portal was there, sort of against the wall, next to my bed. I didn't know what it was at first. I tried to touch it, but my hand went right through it! I guess I was just curious and I walked through."

"Huh", I said, thinking of what she told me, "So it just appeared there? You didn't do anything that might have made it?"

"No, I didn't even _see_ it appear," she answered. I pondered this information and decided to convey it to my friends at school to see what they thought about it.

When I arrived at school the following morning, I had a lot of people talking to me and asking questions about Elsa and "Frozen". I was confused at my sudden fame, and I realized that someone at the rehearsals must have broadcasted the fact that Elsa had come through from the "Frozen World". Not that it caused a problem; it just caused a lot of people to swamp me with questions, like "What's she like?", or "Can I meet her?" I was getting questions in every class, especially theatre where nearly everyone was a fan of the "Frozen" movie.

"Okay, who let the cat out of the bag?" I asked Richard and Dave.

"Hey don't look at me, man," Dave said in defense, shaking his head.

"I didn't say anything", Richard replied, "It could have been Misty; you know how excited she got when she saw Elsa.

"It's not a _problem_", I stated, "It's just that I'm getting a lot of people up in my face about it." They both nodded in understanding. I then proceeded to give them the information about the portal that Elsa went through in the "Frozen World", and they both took it into consideration.

"Have you got any thoughts on how they work?" I asked Richard in regard of the portals.

"No, not yet," he said solemnly.

The rehearsal schedule was back to normal because Mrs. Williams was back to teaching that day, so I rushed home and brought Elsa back with me to the rehearsals; this time we weren't late. When we ran through the play this time, I was surprised to find that everyone had gotten a grip on their lines; no one forgot a word, and Richard put some nice enthusiasm into his character. Mrs. Williams was so pleased with our improvement, that she gave the rest of the time we had leftover for ourselves, for we finished rather early. I took the time to continue practice my sketching in the house seats; drawing all of the characters from the play and even how I thought the set would look like in real life. Elsa noticed my skills and asked about my drawings.

"How do you draw so well?" she asked in wonder.

"Well, I've been drawing ever since I can remember", I explained, "I guess, over my years of practice and experience, I've grown to be able to draw like this." I showed her a sketch of my character in the play.

"That's _you_ isn't it?" she asked, pointing to the drawing.

"Yes, I drew everyone in the play", I stated, showing her all the drawings I made of the production, "I also draw mythical creatures like dragons, and other fictional beasts."

"Really?" Elsa asked as I handed her my sketchbook. She flipped through the pages slowly, scanning each and every dragon, serpent, bird, and person on the pages.

"Could you draw me?" She asked, handing back my sketchbook when she finished looking at the drawings.

"Well, uh, I guess", I stuttered, "But not right now, we have to be heading home." The time had come where we would normally finish our rehearsal for the day, and Dave and Richard were already waiting for us to join them at the door. Richard went home in his car, and the rest of us headed home along the same route as we usually take, and we talked about the matters which we usually talk about.

"Hey I got some more…" Dave started, but we already knew.

"Let me guess. Some new cards," I said mockingly.

"Yeah, how did ya know?" Dave wondered.

"Oh, a hunch", I replied chuckling, "Say, how many cards do you have, Dave?"

"I, uh, kind of lost count," he responded modestly. Elsa wondered at what we were talking about.

"What cards?" she asked, looking up at me with a puzzled face.

"They're not like normal playing cards, with Jacks and Queens and whatnot", I elaborated, "It's a game where you use these cards, which represent creatures and spells, to battle another player. I'll have to show you when we get home."

"Okay," Elsa replied.

**Chapter: 8**

We went our separate ways eventually, and Elsa and I continued down the alternate route we've been taking for the past few days, avoiding the Swag-thumpers again at the abandoned gas station. However, as we walked down the alternate route I noticed a group of four people walking behind us that looked quite familiar. They followed us for a couple blocks until one of them called to us.

"Hey, where you going to _sir_?" he asked mockingly, "Can we join you?" My god, it was the swag-thumpers! They must have seen us taking the different route for the past few days and decided to follow us this time.

"Ignore them, Elsa," I whispered to here, not moving my head in the slightest. The swags continued to pursue us down the street.

"Hey, wait for us!" another one ordered. Elsa and I continued to walk.

"Who's that you got with you?" another swag asked in a negative tone. We continued to ignore them, but this time they _ran_ to us.

"Is that your date to the opera?" the last one asked, as the others chuckled devilishly.

"Hey, stop there, man!" one demanded, "Why don't you talk to us?" They caught up to us this time, and I had no choice but to turn and face them. Man, were they ugly in their "swag"  
>clothes.<p>

"Why don't you and your little _girlfriend_ listen to us?" repeated one of the swag-thumpers wearing a t-shirt labeled "California" that looked too big for him.

"I don't take orders from swag maggots," I said firmly. This caused them to get most upset.

"What'd you say to me?" the swag-thumper asked threateningly. Elsa held my hand tighter.

"I said that I don't take orders from swag maggots, sir," I repeated more stern this time. I didn't regret saying that, but I was forced to take his blow to my cheek. His fist knocked me to the ground, causing me to let go of Elsa's hand, who gave a little yelp of fright. I could still feel the dull pain in my cheekbone, but I got to my feet and stood up straight, maintaining my composure. The swag must have thought he could break me, for he struck me again in the jaw, knocking me to the floor again. Once again I got to my feet; a little slower this time, and a little dazed, but I held my ground and didn't fight back. The swag hit me again, with the others joining in and kicking me on the sidewalk. I could hear Elsa crying through the swags' threats and remarks, and I knew that if I didn't do something they would definitely do something awful to her. The swags stopped kicking me, but continued to throw vulgar words at me, which I do not have the heart to relay. Aching all over, and wiping the blood trickling from the corner of my mouth, I once again rose to my feet, and stood tall forming a protective barrier between them and Elsa. In absolute frustration, the same swag-thumper threw a final punch to my face, which I took and fell dazed to the ground once more. I had no more strength to get up anymore and I could hear Elsa crying louder as the swags approached her.

However, by some miracle from heaven, I could hear a loud, gruff voice call over. I was too dazed to hear what it was saying, but it got louder as it got nearer. The mystery voice scared off the swag-thumpers, who I could hear running off rather quickly. The voice suddenly grew softer, as if saying something comforting, and I could hear Elsa's crying receding. My full consciousness came back to me suddenly, and I slowly sat up straight, blood flowing from my mouth again.

"Whoa, easy there, son," the voice said in a Scottish accent. I looked in the direction of the voice that I identified to belong to Mr. McIntyre, the man who in the past has helped me get through my math grades. It was easy to see why the swag-thumpers would take off so easily at his sight; he is a large man with a heavy build from years in the Army, and hands that looked as if they could easily crush a man's skull.

"I'm alright", I said weakly, wiping the blood from my mouth out of view of Elsa, "They didn't get my head."

"That still don't mean ye could go run a marathon in yer state," Mr. McIntyre joked.

"You never know," I said, gradually sitting more and more upright.

"Ah, that's true", he replied, "Ye are quite amazin' sometimes. And who might this wee lass be?" He looked over at Elsa who looked quite scared at Mr. McIntyre's build.

"This is Elsa", I said, "Elsa, this Mr. McIntyre. He's a good friend of mine."

"Hallao," McIntyre said smiling. Elsa smiled back.

"Hi," she responded. McIntyre wouldn't be able to recognize Elsa, for I know he hasn't seen "Frozen".

"Are ye sure ye're alright?" McIntyre asked as I nodded, "Damn kids nowadays; I don't like 'em, not one bit. Save for a few." He smiled at Elsa and me and offered his hand to help me up. I took it and felt his iron grip lift me up on my feet.

"Whoo, head rush!" I exclaimed at the awkward dizzy feeling in my head when I stood up. I just now realized that I had quoted Olaf from "Frozen".

"Ye need any patchin' up?" McIntyre asked one final time, gesturing to my lip.

"No, I'll be okay", I said waving his offer away, "Thanks for helping us."

"Ey, any time, Hank," he replied before crossing the street to his house that looked out upon the entire area of the incident; he probably could have seen it from his backyard.

We slowly walked the rest of the way to the house, finally arriving well past sunset. Father would be angry again that I was late, and I knew he would not like the story of the swag-thumpers and Mr. McIntyre, so I knew I would have to think of a lie. I don't lie that often, but when I do, I'm really persuasive. That's one of the great things about being an actor. Wait… I could just tell father that the rehearsal today went a little longer than expected; I have arrived later in the past. When I tried to open the door for Elsa, the handle wouldn't budge and I knew father had locked it. His car was still in the driveway, so I knew he was still home, so I simply knocked on the door. After a while Samantha answered and unlocked the door.

"What's the deal with the door being locked?" I asked as Elsa entered first and walked down the hall.

"Dad locked it," Samantha answered.

"Yeah I could have deduced that, but why," I asked again.

"How should I know? He's dad", she replied shrugging, "What happened to your face?" she looked puzzled at my bruised and cut cheek.

"What happened to yours?" I shot back. There was nothing wrong with her face; I was just trying to make a crude joke. I went to my room where Elsa was standing in the doorway waiting for me. I couldn't see her face all that well due to the poor lighting in the hallway, but I could tell there were tears welling up in her eyes. She said nothing, but walked up to me and hugged me around the waist tightly.

"I'm sorry that had happened", I said softly, holding her, "Those people are just like that. They like to pick fights; they… take pleasure in making people feel bad. Feel bad about the things they do, and they win. You must _not_ let them win." Elsa maintained her hold on me, and she continued to do so for some time until my father interrupted.

"Why are you late?" he asked angrily, "You're always late, and it needs to stop!"

"I told you quite some time ago when I first started rehearsing that they would go well into the evening at times," I said in response; Elsa had released her hold of me when father came.

"Well you need to tell me when they do," he continued.

"You expect me to anticipate when the rehearsals are late?" I asked, "You really expect me to tell beforehand when we need to work more than ever on memorizing lines and making sure we know what to do?"

"Well no…," father replied, trying to find something else to yell at me about, "Just… try your best to arrive on time." He left in frustration. I was just glad that he hadn't noticed my bad cheek, due to the poor lighting.

"Now, why don't we happy up", I said wiping a falling tear from Elsa's fair face, "And go out to the kitchen for some Mac & Cheese." Elsa smiled again at the thought of having Mac & Cheese again, and we quickly went out to the kitchen to make some.

**Chapter: 9**

I hardly slept last. I barely got 2 hours at the most, probably because we were finally going to perform "Moon over Buffalo" today. I'm not scared of performing, but I'm won't say that I'm not excited about it. I've been in numerous plays in the past, whether they were back in elementary school or high school, so stage-fright is a thing of the past for me. The performance would start at 7:00, with the doors opening at 6:30. Before we do perform, we'll run through the entire thing once to make sure that we have all the kinks worked out, sort of a last rehearsal.

When morning finally came; and I actually _saw_ it come slowly and surely, I sprang from my bed and got dressed and ate breakfast in a hurry. Before I headed for school I left a note in the kitchen, reminding my family that the play is today after school at 7:00. I knew my father wasn't going to attend, but my mom had bought tickets for herself, Samantha, and my aunt and grandmother. They've been to my previous plays in high school, only two because it's only my first year in high school, but they know my talents.

Thankfully in the middle of my third period today, I was dismissed early to the theatre, along with all the other cast and crew members to prepare for the play. We actually got to run through the play twice, the first time with scripts, the second without. When the time came for everyone else in the school to leave, I was given permission to leave for home to fetch Elsa. However when I got there I found out there was no need to bring Elsa with me, for my grandmother and aunt had arrived and my mom had taken the day off from work. So I ran all the way back to school, somewhat agitated that I had run over there for no reason. I put on my costume and, began running over lines with Dave and Richard. I had forgotten to tell you before that Richard is actually playing a character with the same name, so it's quite interesting to be calling him by his real name when I'm actually calling him by his character's name.

When I was having my stage make-up being put on, people were wondering what had happened to my cheek. I merely told them that I had slipped and fell, but Dave and Richard were skeptical.

"What _really_ happened, man?" Dave asked, crossing his arms.

"You want the truth?" I said as he nodded, "I got in a fight with a pack of swag-thumpers."

"What?" Richard asked in disbelief, "Who won?"

"Nobody really," I answered, "Mr. McIntyre broke it up, thank god."

"I'll bet those guys ran like cockroaches in the light?" Aaron joked.

When 6:30 finally rolled around, we were told to keep the talking backstage to an absolute minimum, for people were starting to fill the seats in the house.

"You excited?" Dave whispered to me in the dark backstage.

"Yeah, in a good way of course," I whispered back.

"Shh," Mrs. Williams hissed at us from the doorway to the classroom; we shut up after that.

When the announcement came on in the house for people to quiet down and turn off their cell phones, I could almost hear my heartbeat in my chest. I wouldn't come on for a few scenes, but I still felt like my heart would burst in my chest. The play started with a few people rushing onstage in a battle, when it turns out they themselves were rehearsing a play. They went offstage and then Alexia went onstage as Rosaline, who is the daughter of the two lead actors, George and Charlotte. She has come home to visit her parents and to tell them that she has gotten engaged. When she arrives at her parents' home, she meets her grandmother and tells her the news. Her grandmother thinks she's getting married to her ex-boyfriend, Paul, and goes off to tell Rosaline's parents' the news. Then the man that Rosaline is really getting married to, Howard played by me, comes by and tells her his feelings about meeting her parents. Howard is a nervous weatherman whom I have no idea how Rosaline could fall for. Howard is eventually left alone as Rosaline goes off to find her parents. Right when Howard is getting comfortable, Rosaline's parents barge in playing a scene from one of their plays. They notice Howard just standing there and drag him into their scene, until they eventually leave Howard to himself once more to himself in the room. Anyways our play continued, with people laughing at the jokes and funny parts; like George getting drunk and everyone's trying to find him, and my character getting tied up and locked in the closet.

The play ended happily and all the actors lined up and bowed as one. I looked out in the audience to see if I could see my family, and I didn't have much difficulty, for they were standing up and clapping and waving for me to come down to them. After some struggle getting down off the stage to the house I walked up to my family to greet them.

"You did so great!" my aunt said cheerfully, her rosy cheeks glowing with happiness.

"You did," My grandmother agreed, opening her arms to embrace me.

"Thank you, thank you," I said in an effort to cease their erratic compliments so that I may hear my own thoughts again.

"You were okay," my sister said. I smiled at her crude joke about my performance, and hugged my mom, who in turn kissed my cheek.

"Could I get a picture?" my aunt asked, holding up her camera. I nodded and stood upright, as if posing for a business photo.

"Now where's Elsa?" I asked looking for the small girl amongst my family members, who was easy to find due to her purple dress, "I know you watched all the rehearsals, but what did you think?" I knelt down to her level.

"I thought you were perfect," she answered respectfully, and hugged my neck for a while.

I noticed a lot of people taking glances at Elsa, and some pointing and talking to their party as if wondering who she was.

"Oh migosh, I love your outfit!", One passing woman said to Elsa, "It looks like a cosplay of little Elsa from Frozen."

"What's a 'cosplay'?" Elsa asked me.

"It's were a person dresses up for the purpose of mimicking a certain character from the media; like their favorite character from a movie, or a comic book," I explained to her.

"Well if you're not cosplaying Elsa", the woman continued, "You sure look a lot like her." The woman walked off with the rest of her party to the lobby. People were still looking at Elsa, and some even taking pictures, when Dave ran up to me rapidly as if it were a matter of life or death.

"Hank!" He yelled over the buzz of the leaving audience, "Hank, I figured it out!"

"What?" I asked loudly as he got nearer.

"I figured it out!" he repeated as he approached my family and me, "I figured out how the portals work." I was ecstatic about this pleasant news.

"What?" I asked in amazement and disbelief, "Tell me, quick."

"Here, I'll show ya!" Dave said, walking back up to the stage and gesturing for me to follow him.

"Wait here," I told Elsa as I trailed off after Dave. He led me to the classroom and to the teacher's desk in the back. He pointed to the large calendar on the desk, and smiled from ear to ear at me as if he had just struck gold.

"It's a calendar," I said, pointing out the obviousness of the situation. Richard came up to us and wondered what was happening.

"I found out how the portals work!" Dave exclaimed, still pointing to the calendar on the teacher's desk.

"Well, how do they work?" I asked somewhat annoyed this time, "Spit it out!"

"Well, I was walking back here to try and talk to Mrs. Williams about getting my cards back that she took", Dave explained, "I tried looking for them in her desk myself, when I noticed the calendar. I just looked at the day Elsa came here, and I had an epiphany!"

"Whoa," Richard said in astonishment.

"Yeah I know it's exciting, right?" Dave said ecstatically.

"No I was amazed at the fact that 'epiphany' is in your vocabulary," Richard replied matter-of-factly. Dave looked at him angrily.

"Well, what's so special about that day?" I asked, getting quite impatient.

"Well, I noticed that on that particular day, it was a full moon!" he answered as if he was expecting a big reaction.

"And?" I asked, trying to get more out of him.

"Think about it," Dave exclaimed, "A full moon is a cosmological event that has been tied to many supernatural occurrences in the past, like werewolves and all that other BS. What if the portal works on the phases of the moon?"

"You know I never thought of that," Richard stated in awe, "Dave, I never knew you could be so… ingenious."

"I have to say I think this is a good idea", I said, "All we have to do is wait for the next full moon to roll around in May. But, do you have any evidence to substantiate your theory?" Dave looked at me in confusion.

"Evidence?" he repeated me, "Uh… well I just thought of it a minute ago, and well… it's just a theory."

"So you're telling us that we're relying on a theory," I said skeptically, folding my arms across my chest.

"Uh, yeah," Dave replied.

"Well it's the only _concrete_ idea that we have, so, I guess we just roll with it," Richard said smiling.

"All right, we'll wait for the next full moon", I said agreeing, "But in the meantime I think we should try to think of any other possible means of getting Elsa back." I walked off to the dressing room to change out of my costume and get back to the theatre. After I had finished I went out to the theatre to tell Elsa the news.

**Chapter: 10**

My family was in the lobby waiting for me. I knelt down in front of Elsa to tell her what Dave had found out.

"We have an idea on how to get you back," I said smiling, "Dave thinks the portal relies on the full moon to open, and he thinks we should wait for the next one to roll around in May."

"You mean… I'll be able to go home?" she asked excitedly.

"Yes, you'll be able to home", I said, and Elsa wrapped her arms around my neck in happiness, "But while we're waiting for the moon, why don't we try and make the best out of the rest of your stay here?"

"All right," she replied, letting go of my neck.

We drove back to my grandmother's house for dinner; it's a tradition we started back when I did my first play here in high school. Elsa had still not gotten entirely over her fear of cars; wouldn't you be afraid to ride in the thing that almost killed you? She sat nervously next to me, gripping my hand tightly as if the car would roll over any second. We rode in my mom's car, while my sister and my aunt rode in my grandma's car, a black Saturn. We eventually arrived in a nice neighborhood full of two story houses and small front yards. Dinner at my grandma's house was splendid, with roast beef and mashed potatoes, every one happily eating, and an absence of father which was always a pleasant thing.

"So, Elsa, you're from 'Frozen'?" my aunt asked when we finished dinner and went to the living room to just talk.

"Yes, I came here from the movie," she replied.

"But how? I mean, it's a movie," she asked.

"I came through some sort of portal", she explained, "I showed up in Hank's theatre, and he took me to his house to stay. And now we're just waiting for the portal to open again."

"I think it would be even cooler if the Phantom of the Opera came over," Samantha exclaimed.

"Yeah, and he started to 'haunt' my school's theatre," I responded, chuckling.

The night continued as we all talked about various subjects, like the "Frozen" movie, the government, and for some reason, immigrants. It became late and we finally left for home; my aunt drove us. In the car we talked some more about random stuff!

It was finally the weekend! And no more play for me to be obsessed with, yeah! I slept in the next morning for a good amount of time, trying to make up for all those mornings of having to wake up early and go to school in the past week. I kept waking up and falling back to sleep and then waking up again. After a while I came to the conclusion that I had gotten enough sleep, so I pulled back my sheets and _slowly_ rose to my feet; in an effort to avoid another head rush. I got a shirt on, for I was wearing only my plaid sleep pants, and walked almost like a zombie to the kitchen. I fixed myself a bowl of cornflakes; we were out of Reese's Puffs, and sat down at the table and ate my breakfast in silence looking out the window. Samantha eventually came out fully dressed and poured herself a glass of orange juice. She didn't stay for long and headed out to the garage to ride her bike around the neighborhood. I watched her ride by the front yard several times, until I eventually got bored and poured out the excess milk from my bowl into the sink.

I walked back to my room and sat down at my desk not doing anything; just sitting there with the computer screen blank, and nothing in front of me to draw on. I heard a door open behind me and I turned around to see Elsa come out of my sister's room, also fully dressed.

"Good morning, Hank," she said cheerfully, walking in my room to see what I was doing.

"Good morning", I replied to her, grabbing one of my sketchbooks to make it look as if I was actually doing something and not just sitting there bored, "I notice that you and Samantha are all dressed. Did I really sleep in that much?"

"Yeah", Elsa responded, "Are you gonna draw some more?"

"Uh, yeah", I said hesitantly, "I was just thinking of _what_ to draw."

"Hmm", Elsa sounded, leaning against my chair and staring at the blank notebook with me, "What about me?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking at her.

"You said you could draw me a few days ago, why not try it?" she suggested.

"Well… I guess I could", I said shrugging and looking back at the blank paper, "Yeah, why not?" I gestured for Elsa to sit in the chair as I got up from it and sat at the edge of my bed, notebook and pencil in hand along with an artist's eraser.

"How should I sit?" Elsa asked when she sat down.

"Rotate to the right a wee bit", I recommended so that the lighting would rest upon her face as best as possible, "Turn your head more to the right, but keep looking at me. Maybe you could fold your hands in your lap. Oh yeah and sit up a bit more, this isn't a silly sketch." Elsa followed my instruction.

"How should my face be?" she asked lastly.

"Smile slightly, and keep eye contact with me," I said, and I began to make the initial lines on the paper, starting the sketch. Now I understand that there is a lot of resemblance between now and that particular scene from the "Titanic" movie by James Cameron, but I assure you I am not drawing Elsa in any way similarly to how Jack drew Rose in that scene.

"This might take a bit, so it's alright to adjust yourself a little bit if you start to get uncomfortable," I said as I finished the basic shape of her face.

"It's alright," she said, maintaining her composure.

I'll admit that I had some slight problems with her dress; however after much erasing and double checking, I eventually got it right. I finished the basics of the dress and moved on to her legs; I would add shading and detail as the final phase of the sketching process. Her legs and feet were probably the easiest part; however that was cake compared to her face. I just couldn't get her smile right. The eyes I nailed in one go, but her mouth had to keep being erased and done again. I was worried that if I kept erasing there would be a smudge leftover, and the paper would possibly rip due to the constant rubbing. I finally did my best and I had to just roll with it. I moved on to her hair which I must say was actually easier than I had anticipated; even easier than her legs and feet. I shaded the final sketch, and fixed any mistakes that I might have made, and added things I had either missed or not done well enough. The final product was quite splendid, if I do say so myself. I signed the bottom of the page to make the sketch official, and presented it to Elsa for her opinion.

"Oh, it's like the paintings in the castle back in Arendelle, even better!" she exclaimed happily, staring at the drawing.

"I take it that's good," I said, just making sure.

"It's perfect," she answered, smiling ear to ear and hugging me around the neck like last time. After she let go I took the drawing and gently tore it out along the binding, and handed it to Elsa so she could have it.

"I can keep it?" she asked.

"Of course", I said as she took it gently from my hands, "You really don't think I drew it for myself now do you? I drew it with every intention of you keeping it, sort of a souvenir from the 'Real World'."

"This is nothing compared to the _other_ souvenir I'll be taking with me", Elsa stated affectionately.

"What's that?" I asked curiously.

"My memories of you," she replied, smiling.

"Well…," I started, smiling and looking at my feet.

The day continued as any normal weekend for me would, except for the fact that Elsa was here. I had to work some more on the front yard, and a little in the back. I played some video games on my computer when I finished, continuing my favorite one, Alien Shooter 2. I know it sounds quite cheesy; however it has a surprisingly good game play with great graphics. I was nearing the end of my fifth mission of the game, when I heard some noises that were not part of the game, and I took my earphones out to see what they were. The noises were coming from the living room, and I recognized them to be the sound effects from a movie that Samantha must be watching. I saved my game and headed out there to see which one she was watching. It turned out to be the Disney Pixar movie "Brave", and Samantha was already half-way through it.

"Where's Elsa?" I asked her, noticing Elsa wasn't anywhere to be seen or heard.

"She's in the back," Samantha answered, not even looking at me.

"Has she seen any movies yet?" I asked, pointing to the T.V.

"Yeah, we watched 'Princess and the Frog' yesterday before the play," she replied, her eyes still glued to the screen.

"And what did she think of it?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask her that yourself?" Samantha responded to me angrily, finally looking me in the eye. I held up my hands in defense as I walked to the back door that headed out to the yard, where I could see Elsa petting Smokey. I walked out to her and knelt down to join her.

"So, what'd you think of the movie you saw yesterday?" I asked.

"What… oh, it was amazing!" Elsa answered, "I didn't think people could do that."

"Would you like to watch another movie?" I asked, stroking Smokey's large belly.

"Sure, which one?" she replied.

"It's another musical, called 'Phantom of the Opera'," I said.

"Sounds interesting!" Elsa said, standing up and brushing off the front of her purple dress.

"First we have to let Samantha finish the movie she's watching," I said, walking Elsa back into the living room. It turns out Samantha had actually turned off her movie and took her bike out for a ride around the neighborhood; I swear she can never make up her mind about what she wants to do for fun.

"Oh, looks like we have the T.V to ourselves!" I exclaimed. Elsa sat down on the couch and I searched our extensive library of DVDs for the "Phantom of the Opera movie". I turned on the DVD player and popped the disk in, and sat down next to Elsa as the main menu came up on the screen. Elsa loved the movie, especially the music; never taking her eyes off the screen. I like the movie for its music too, along with the storyline and the visuals. Elsa's favorite moments were when the main character, Christine, sang her "Think of Me" song, and when the Phantom was first introduced.

"I feel bad for the Phantom", Elsa stated when the movie finished, "He doesn't get the girl."

"I like the Phantom's character", I said, "Sure, he kills someone, but I love his singing voice and his overall aura as a character."

"I think if he were only a little bit less over dramatic, he would have been perfect," Elsa said, standing up from the couch and stretching.

Sunday finally came and I drew some more in my notebook. I actually ran out of pages, so I took some of my birthday money and walked down to the Big Lots a few blocks away. I'm used to walking long distances; I walk to the public library that's all the way down by the freeway, I walk to school, and I walk with Dave over to the Targets for cards and that's _beyond_ the freeway.

Sunday passed and another long school week began. Thankfully I would be able to go home right away to Elsa, since there are no more rehearsals. I really don't trust my father alone with Elsa. Since there was no play to occupy my mind during the school week, it went by very slowly; sometimes seeming as if time altogether had ceased to continue. I had nothing to take me away from doing my homework, unfortunately, since the play was over, and even though I have reasonable grades I still loathed doing my homework. The majority of it came from my geometry class, which gave me a new assignment each day to tackle. Math is my weakness when it comes to school, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. All those triangles and sectors and areas and perimeters clogged my brain with tedious calculations and equations, which seemed to dull my brain more than strengthen it. After a day's work of math, I felt like my brain was oozing out my ears.

**Chapter: 11**

The week finally ended, and it was finally the weekend again! I know I pretty much skipped what had happened during the week, but nothing really interesting happened that was worth talking about. Anyways the weekend rolled around again, and I of course slept in Saturday morning. I eventually went out to the kitchen around 10:00, and Samantha had already gone out on her bike ride.

My mom came out about an hour later. She's been sleeping in so late because her new shift at work requires her to be there until 1 in the morning, and she needs to get her sleep. She came out and fixed a pot of coffee for herself and told me news I've wanted to hear for two weeks.

"We might go to the mall later today, if that's okay," she said sipping her coffee.

"Of course!" I exclaimed in excitement. I rushed to my room to get dressed, even though we probably wouldn't be going for another hour. Elsa was out on the front porch sitting on the wooden bench just looking out at the beautiful yard we had. I went outside there to tell her.

"We'll be going to the mall today," I said to her. She looked at me like I was talking in a foreign language, understandably.

"It's a large place full of people and many stores that sell a wide variety of things", I explained, "It's similar to a marketplace, except this one is indoors, it has two floors, and it's quite modern."

"Oh, I'm looking forward", she said happily, "How many people are going to be there?"

"A lot, that's all I can really say," I replied, sitting there with Elsa as we looked at the yard.

We left for the mall around 12:00, which is our usual time, for we go there quite often. Elsa was a lot calmer than her last car ride, and actually took the time to gaze out the window at the mysterious, modern world around her that she hadn't seen before. The mall wasn't far, but not within walking distance, definitely. When Elsa saw the mall as we were getting off the freeway, and looked at all the cars in the driveway, she squeezed my hand a little harder and gazed in a mixture of awe and fright at the large building. The parking lot was rather packed, probably because Saturday had come and a lot of people weren't at work for the weekend; you know how it is.

"So how many shops are in the mall?" Elsa asked, taking a hold of my hand as we headed out of the parking lot.

"Almost a hundred, I honestly don't know the exact number", I replied, "Some of them are larger than the others, and there's a lot of smaller ones packed in."

We entered the mall through one of the main entrances and made our way to "Main Street", as I like to call it, where most of the shops are collected along one long hall. Countless stores lined the walls on both floors, hundreds of people went to and fro along the wide pathway, and a large sky-light on the ceiling let in the bright sunlight. Elsa's eyes looked as if they would pop out of their sockets as she took in the overwhelming sight before her, as we made our way to our first stop. My mom is the one who goes to the most stores, I usually just tag along. However, occasionally, I'll look in a few stores out of my own will-power. My favorite store would have to be The Suit Exchange, where they have a large collection of suits, tuxedos, and hats. Not the usual hats you see everyday like baseball caps and cheap fedoras, I mean bowler hats like mine, and proper fedoras like the ones from the 30s and 40s. I can hardly afford anything there; the only thing I had ever bought from there was my bowler hat.

When we passed the Disney store that the mall had, Elsa practically dragged me in there to see what was so great about Disney. Let me tell you, nearly everyone lost their marbles when they saw her. They were constantly telling her what a great costume she had and asking if she was the real Elsa. She looked up at me as if asking if it was okay to show them; I nodded. Elsa took off her gloves and handed them to me, and formed a small ball of blue and white energy.

"Ready?" she asked the people in the store. They all nodded yelled cheers of approval. She shot the ball of ice energy to the ceiling and made it snow indoors transforming the Disney store in a sort of winter wonderland. Anyone who hadn't already lost their mind did now, in an uproar of laughter and cheering. Elsa covered the floor in a thin sheet of ice and covered all the shelves and counter tops with a blanket of snow. People asked if they could take pictures, and asked questions about Arendelle and Anna. I advised them all not to say anything about her future and the movie that she hasn't done yet.

Now that Elsa had made everything lively and icy, there was a huge "Frozen" extravaganza in the store. The manager even gave Elsa and me a discount on everything! I let Elsa take a look around the store, making sure she didn't see anything that would spoil her future in the "Frozen" section. I looked around and found a small Frozen-themed necklace that Elsa would like; it had a silver chain and a glass snow-flake pendant. I used some of my birthday money, bought the necklace and presented it to Elsa, who loved it. She put it on immediately and continued to talk with some of the other shoppers. I was happy that Elsa was enjoying herself, she seemed so happy that there were so many people who loved her.

"Say, what relation do you have to Elsa?" a woman asked me.

"I'm her guardian," I said simply.

"Oh," the woman replied.

I can understand how people would be wondering how I know Elsa, but I don't feel like explaining the circumstances of her arrival here in the "Real World", _again_. Eventually we left the Disney store, much to the dismay of the shoppers, and headed to some of the other shops in the large mall. People continued to stare in our direction as we walked down "Main Street", as they passed us and went their way.

After we looked in a few more stores, mostly clothing stores, we headed over to the Red Robin which was connected to the mall. This would be the first time Elsa has ever eaten at a restaurant, and I know she'll like the high quality food, unlike the food at our house. When the waiter came by to get our drinks, I ordered some Dr. Pepper, my mom got some coffee, and Elsa got some lemonade. Elsa enjoyed the sweet drink, sipping it slowly and savoring the tangy taste.

"I think I'll get the bacon cheeseburger," I said, closing my menu and placing it on the table.

"I'll get the Mac & Cheese," Elsa stated.

"Why not get something else?" I asked, "I know you like Mac & Cheese, but why not take advantage of the situation and get something that we can't already make at home?" Elsa agreed with me and got a small pizza instead. The waiter took our orders and we went to the bathroom to all wash up before our food came. Elsa enjoyed the pizza, and I of course loved my burger, and mom got some sort of chicken dinner. A few people looked at us from their tables, wondering at the little girl sitting next to me who looked extremely like the young Elsa from Frozen.

"My Dr. Pepper hasn't any ice," I said disappointed when I got a new glass.

"Give it here," Elsa said. She took the tall glass in her bare hand and froze the glass itself, making it cloudy and _very_ cold.

"Thank you," I said smiling at her.

When the check arrived I used some more of my birthday money, and paid for Elsa's meal, saving my mom the trouble. We went back into the mall for a little more and looked at a few more stores, with a lot of pleasant looks from people at Elsa. When the sun had set, it was time for us to be heading back home, so we left the mall and headed out to the car in the parking lot. There was slight traffic on the freeway, which slowed down our return home considerably. It wasn't until 9 o'clock when we finally arrived home, and Elsa had fallen asleep, her head leaning awkwardly on the car door.

"You go on in, I'll get Elsa," I said to mom, waving her out of the car. I unbuckled her seatbelt and gingerly took her out of the car, supporting her head and legs. She was a lot lighter than I had expected to be, and I carried her into the house with relative ease. I took her past Samantha, who was watching T.V. in the living room, and into her bedroom. I gently placed her in the bed, taking her shoes off her tiny feet, and tucked her in comfortably. She looked so peaceful asleep, her smooth face completely at ease, not a single tense muscle, not a single sign of discomfort. She slept like she knew that absolutely nothing in the world would harm her, because I wouldn't allow it. I would never forgive myself if anything awful happened to her in this world, in her world I could never do anything to keep her safe, her parents would be able to do that. They'll die before Elsa's 19th birthday, leaving it up to Anna, the soldiers at the palace, and herself to keep her safe. After the end of the "Frozen" movie I know nothing that happens afterwards, so I pray that when she goes back, and lives out her life in the movie, I pray that she lives a long and happy life full of comfort.

**Chapter: 12**

When the morning came, and I had gotten dressed, Dave came over.

"Ya want to walk over to Target?" he asked on the porch.

"Sure", I said, "Let me just get ready." I went back inside and told my mom and everyone else that I was going with Dave for a little while. I went back outside and we started on our long walking journey to the Target on the other side of the freeway.

We were gone for a while, due to the long walk and the fact that the Target was busy. While we were gone Elsa was walking around the house, quite bored. She eventually stopped wandering in Samantha's room, plopping herself upon the bed and staring at the ceiling. She lay there for quite a bit in silence, until my mom came in the room to get some of my sister's dirty laundry.

"Good morning, Elsa," she greeted happily, entering the room.

"Good morning," Elsa replied gravely, staring at the ceiling with a monotonous face.

"Is something wrong?" my mother asked with her caring voice. Elsa took a minute to answer.

"I have this weird feeling", Elsa explained monotonously, "I feel like… when I leave here… I'll be leaving behind a life, and going back to another. Does that make any sense?"

"Not entirely," my mother answered honestly, but not rudely.

"Well… guess I feel that I'll be leaving behind something important; something that I don't have in Arendelle", Elsa continued, "But I can't figure out what it is."

"Well, is it an actual object, or something figurative?" my mom asked thoughtfully.

"I guess it could be an object", Elsa answered, "But it's also figurative. It's a person." She realized what it was that was important.

"Who, Hank?" mom asked.

"Yeah, he won't be there when I go back to Arendelle", Elsa said, "He'll stay here with you guys, and I'll have _my_ family."

"Do you care for him?"

"Well, yes. He's intelligent, he's caring, he's loving,"

"Yes he is,"

"And he's love_able_,"

"Oh, yes he _is_! Are you really going to miss him that much?"

"I guess I…," Elsa started, her eyes watering slightly. She just laid there with a blank expression on her face, arms outstretched across the bed.

"Well, if what Hank says is true, then you have two-and-a-half more weeks until you have to go home", mom replied, "Make the most of it."

**Chapter: 13**

Another school week passed by and it was terrible. My father got drunk on Wednesday and unleashed his fury upon us. He came home reeking of liquor, yelling at us as soon as he came through the door.

"CLEAN UP YOUR MESS NOW!" he almost screamed at Samantha for leaving her used bowl in the sink, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO PUT YOUR DISHES IN THE SINK!" Samantha took the bowl out of the sink and made room for it on the already covered counter top, with tears in her eyes.

"TURN THE T.V. OFF, YOU WATCH TOO MUCH!" he yelled at me when I just turned on the television to watch The Great Escape movie. I of course obeyed him, for fear of him yelling at me more. Even though we did as he said he still continued to yell at us for the most minute of flaws, and if there was something that was obviously not our fault he would place blame on us anyway. I feared for Elsa, for he made his way down the hall, where she was napping in Samantha's room. I followed my father down the hall to make sure he didn't do anything foolish. He walked right into Samantha's bedroom and did his thing again.

"GET UP AND CLEAN THE KITCHEN WITH THE OTHER GIRL!" he yelled, waking up poor Elsa and ordering her to join Samantha in the kitchen.

"Here now!" I exclaimed, "You leave her alone!"

"Don't you talk to me that way!" he shot back, hitting me across my still healing cheek. He didn't knock me to the ground, but he did knock me back some. Elsa let out a small yelp of fright as my father's hand struck me across the face, and buried her face in her hands.

"Don't _you_ hit me again," I said calmly yet firmly, regaining my composure and staying my own hand.

"DON'T TALK BACK TO ME!" my father yelled and tried hit me again. However this time, I blocked his blow with my forearm, and knocked it away. I quickly threw my other fist forward with one swift motion following my defensive move, and stopped my fist an inch from my father's now shocked face.

"I said, don't hit me again," I said, sternly this time. My dad still bore an expression of shock and fright, and then walked past me back out into the living room. I lowered my fist as he went passed me, the scent of alcohol clinging heavily to him and his breath. I could hear Elsa softly crying with her face still buried in her small hands, and when I approached her I noticed a thin layer of frost covering the blankets around her. I sat down on the edge of the bed next to her, and wrapped my arms around her to comfort her, softly shushing her and holding her to my chest. She almost instantly stopped crying and began to breathe slowly with her eyes closed.

"I'm sorry that had happened", I gently spoke, "I promise you that will never happen again." Elsa wrapped her arms around my waist and held on as if she were about to fall and I was the only one in the world that could catch her.

"Here, you go back to sleep," I said slowly letting go of her and easing her head upon her pillow.

"I don't want to sleep", Elsa replied softly, "I don't want you to go."

"You sleep", I repeated, "And I'll stay by your side the whole time, okay?"

"Alright," she answered slowly, placing her hand upon my even more bruised cheek, and cooled it off which relieved the stinging pain tremendously. Her eyes stared into mine the whole time until they slowly began to get heavy and close. I stayed for a while, until I had to get ready for my own sleep. Elsa slept until morning, as did I, however I had to wake up early for school.

When I got home from school I quickly did my homework, and then brought Elsa out into the living room. I fired up the T.V. and popped in the movie "Frozen", much to the delight of Elsa.

"We're gonna watch it?" she asked excitedly.

"Only a small part", I replied, "We're going to watch it up until when you are older than you are now. For everything beyond that point you have not seen or done yet."

"Aww, c'mon!" Elsa whined, begging me to show her more than that. I merely smiled at her and played the movie. She was amazed at the fact that she was watching what she had done, but from the T.V.'s point of view. For her it was like one of those moments when you're watching a video of you, and everything seems awkward because you're watching yourself doing the things you have already done. We watched the movie up until the transition in time between Elsa's current age and her teenage moments; during the _Do You Want to Build a Snowman_ song.

"I want to see more", Elsa begged, "Please?"

"I'm sorry but it's dangerous for one to know too much about their own future," I answered.

"Why?" Elsa asked.

"Well, because you will know the actions you do and the choices you'll make", I explained, "For example, who's to say, after knowing you'll do the things you'll do, that you won't do different things? If you do, other factors will change dramatically, for the better or the worse. You could be happy for the rest of your life, or something could happen which causes you to suffer. Say a person finds out that they will become the most wanted man in the world. He might try everything to make sure that that doesn't happen. People could die!"

Elsa stared at me intently, taking in my every word. She thought about it and realized that I was right; she shouldn't know what she'll do in the future. It should be a surprise.

**Chapter: 14**

Do you recall how I had earlier stated how last week was terrible? Well the next one was no different. Sunday, the 4th of May, started out with my father yelling at the entire family and continuing to do so for the rest of the day. I have to say that I'm not going to put up with him much longer. I cannot wait until I'm finally 18 and I can move away from him; I cannot wait, and I will not wait. I want my father to get out of my life and leave me and the rest of my family alone!

The next day, Cinco de Mayo, was no different. I had to go to school that day, so I was able to avoid him for the first half of the day, however I suffered my father's wrath when I got home. I entered the living room to the sound of him yelling at my mom in the kitchen about something. I avoided his spite and walked in the opposite direction to my bedroom. I immediately began to work on my homework for the day, with little Elsa to keep me company. She wondered at the complicated geometry equations, asking me what sine and cosine are, and asking what the sector of a circle is. I could not think of a way to give her a simple answer in which she could understand the hell of geometry. Pardon my language, but that's how I feel about geometry.

I continued my work, when I heard the front door slam violently and my dad's car start up and pull out of the drive away. He raced his car aggressively down the street to god knows where.

"Odd," I said curiously at this. Elsa nodded in agreement.

My father never returned home; it went well past midnight until we heard some word about him. The phone in the kitchen rang, interrupting my dream about a peaceful ice landscape. I dragged myself out of bed to silence the electronic perpetrator who awoke me, however my mom got to it first, who had just got home from work. She answered the phone with a monotonous tone; the way anyone would answer the phone in the middle of the night. The man on the other line, who I later found out to be a police officer, told my mom some news that none of us wanted to hear.

"Are you sure?" my mom asked the police officer over the phone with a shaking voice. Her eyes showed a state of shock, and her smooth lip trembled. I read her face and I knew the officer's words were not comforting.

"Okay, uh… yeah I understand", she said with a breaking voice, and hung up the phone slowly, "Hank?"

"Yes, mom?" I replied, standing alert.

"Um… you…" she started, "Your father… he's gone." I stood silently for a moment, letting my mother's words slowly sink in, and letting me slowly realize the somber reality of her news. We later found out from the police that my father had been out drinking for Cinco de Mayo, and he had tried to drive home drunk. He hit another car head-on at full speed, and broke his neck upon impact. My father doesn't have any Latino backgrounds whatsoever; why would he go out and drink so much on Cinco de Mayo? He was probably looking for an excuse to arrive home drunk again and yell at us! The bastard had to go out and get himself killed! Why did he have to go and get himself killed? The bastard! I immediately was regretting what I had said earlier, about wanting him to get out of my life. I spoke too soon. I know he was a cruel tyrant of a father, but I never meant for his cruelty to end in this manner! I remember back when I was little; he wasn't in any way the man he was recently. I remember when he was kind, and comforting; the way a father should be. Then he lost his job, and everything went downhill after that. He began drinking and getting mad at us for the slightest things. Now it's all over; the tyranny, the comforting, the cruelty, the fathering, the father. All gone now; to heaven or hell I do not know; I do not care. I don't care anymore.

"I'm sorry about your papa," Elsa said comfortingly, sitting next to me on the couch after we arrived home from the funeral on Wednesday.

"It… it's alright," I said slowly, looking somberly at the pile of old magazines on the coffee-table in front of me. Elsa rested her head on my shoulder and began stroking my still healing cheek. I buried my face into her shoulder, and gently wept into the purple fabric of her dress. She ran her fingers through my hair and leaned her head on mine. I needed her company; I needed her to comfort me while I softly weep for my father. I would miss his nagging, his orders, his complaints, his arguing… his voice. I would miss his glares, his dirty looks, his cruel eyes, his angry mouth… his face. Next week Elsa won't be here for me.

**Chapter: 15**

After all those days of waiting; after all those weeks of preparing and anticipation, the next full moon in May will finally arrive, come tomorrow. I talked with Mrs. Williams about the situation, and she said that it would be alright for Elsa to come after school to the theatre. I would have to run home quickly and fetch Elsa, just as I did back when we were rehearsing for our play. If what my friends and I think is correct, the portal should open up at the exact same time as it did before. I'm still somewhat skeptical about the whole "Full Moon" concept. After all, if the worlds _do_ become connected during a full moon, why haven't there been any portals in the past? What if the only way a portal can open is if someone on the other side goes through first? I doubt the fact that the portal will open on our side, but it's our only choice. We don't have any other theories.

David was quite excited during our theatre class; probably because he knows that the portal will open, and that if it does he will have made a great idea and we would all have to praise him for it. However, as I said before, I doubt that the portal will open. We'll all find out soon enough. After the bell rang for us to be dismissed from school, I ran home to get Elsa. She didn't want to run all the way to the school, so we walked instead; quickly of course. We would have another half-hour until the portal allegedly opens, however I didn't want to take any chances. Astronomical events are quite unpredictable, even the phases of the moon. I mean, look at the weather; sometimes we guess it right, sometimes we don't. The moon phases recur every month; however if a full moon occurs on a Tuesday, for example, the next month's full moon will occur on a Wednesday or sometimes the day after. It's quite complicated to explain in a brief amount of time, and I can't say any more because Elsa and I have already entered the theatre.

Mrs. Williams awaited us at the entrance, smiling at Elsa and escorted us onto the stage. When we walked onto the lit-up stage, everyone from the "Moon over Buffalo" play, both cast and crew awaited us on the stage. They formed a sort of walkway that led from the right-stage curtains to the exact spot where the portal opened up a month ago. It now appeared before us brilliantly, and a full fifteen minutes early. The blue and white energy swirls caught me off-guard; I guess I shouldn't be so skeptical next time. Dave was right, and I doubted him! The portal shone brightly, giving that area of the stage a cold white glow. Everyone looked at the portal, this time in happiness and awe; contrary to the first time everyone looked at it in a mixture of fright and wonder. Elsa stared at the portal as if the light it gave off was the light of heaven, and heaven waited on the other side. Then her expression changed to sadness, as if the portal led to an alien world and she would be leaving behind this world.

"Go on, go home," I said smiling down to her and pushing her gently forward. She slowly walked forward to the portal as if in a trance.

"Goodbye Elsa," Richard said from the walkway of people.

"Good bye," Dave said as well. Everyone else followed them, each saying their farewell in turn as Elsa walked down the aisle of cast and crew members to the awaiting portal. As she slowly walked away from me, every step she took towards the portal seemed a thousand miles away from me. She was inches away from the blue and white energy of the disk when she looked over to me with tears welling up in her eyes. She looked back at the portal, which looked to be gradually shrinking, and then back at me with tears falling slowly from her eyes. She put the portal to her back and ran back to me one last time. I knelt down to her level and let her envelop me in her open arms. She held me tightly, as if quite possibly this would be the last time we see each other.

"I don't want to go!" She cried into my shoulder, "I don't want to leave!"

"You have to", I said gently, "You have a whole life waiting for you in Arendelle. You have your parents, and you have your sister. Those precious things you won't find here, only in Arendelle do they live, not here."

"But _you_ aren't _there_", Elsa said sadly with tears reddening her eyes, "Come with me! Please, come with me. We can go back to Arendelle together!" I shook my head solemnly.

"I'm needed here", I explained, "As are _you_ needed _there_. You have a family there, I have a family here. You have a great life waiting for you in there, I have a life here. I can't go with you. I'm sorry. _My_ family needs me." Elsa cried even more at this. She stared at the ground crying, I held her one last time, and she eventually let go and accepted what I said. Before she walked back to the portal I pulled out the sketch I made earlier of her from my pocket, and handed it to her. She took it, gave me a weak smile, and walked to the slowly closing portal. She approached the diminishing blue and white energy, and gave me one last look before disappearing into the portal, which closed almost immediately behind her.

I immediately felt a heavy feeling of sadness come over me, as I watched her leave this world. I felt immensely grave when I walked home alone from the theatre. I felt extremely somber when I entered my home and couldn't hear her laughter from down the hall. I was entirely depressed when I couldn't see her in Samantha's bedroom. I sat down at my desk; I just sat there doing nothing. My computer made not a sound, my pencil made no marks on any papers. Not a sketch was made, nor homework assignment completed that evening. Not a single movie watched, nor game played. I simply sat there at my desk and thought to myself. Whose face will I look to for comfort? Whose voice will I listen to so that I may smile? Whose hand will I hold so that I may walk in happiness? Whose presence will I wait for so that I may be at ease?

**Chapter: 16**

Life went back to normal. School was just as boring, and after school was now even more boring. Sure, I no longer had to listen to my father yell at me or anyone else in my family, but nothing seemed happy, or cheerful without Elsa around. Watching T.V. was now boring, drawing became monotonous, even the garden seemed to weep for Elsa's absence. When Elsa returned to Arendelle and left this world, I lost the one thing that seemed to make this barbaric, modern world a joyful place to live in. Now it seems dull, with homework to making it almost painful.

Speaking of school work and whatnot, summer's arriving and I'm most looking forward to it. I don't yet know what I could possibly do over the summer that I haven't done yet. I could draw, but it's not the same anymore. I could watch television, but _what_? I guess I could expect a vacation or two to someplace nice. I mustn't get my hopes up, for we usually don't. However, occasionally we'll take a trip to someplace like Knott's Berry Farm, or sometimes Sea World which we haven't gone to in what seems like ages. Sea World I most enjoy, due to the vast variety of sea life they have, and because they have the Arctic section and the penguin section which are cold. We haven't been to Disneyland in years, and I mean _years_! I hear tell they've recently increased their prices, which is the reason we haven't been able to go, even in the past. I yearn to see what they have over there that features "Frozen".

Speaking of "Frozen", on the last day of school we watched "Frozen" in my theatre class. Everyone who loved the movie watched, and everyone who wasn't a big fan went on their phones and other assorted electronic devices, as usual. I had my eyes glued to the enormous screen being projected on the large roll-down projection board in the theatre. I realized a few days after Elsa had returned to Arendelle that if she was gone, the movie would have been altered due to her absence. Since she was in our world instead of the "Frozen World", _Anna _would have been coroneted instead of Elsa, and that means that Elsa would never have frozen the land of Arendelle into eternal winter, Olaf would never have been created, Kristoff and Sven would never have become involved in the story, in fact there wouldn't be much of a story to begin with! Elsa and Anna's parents would have died, as shown in the movie, Anna would have been coroneted, and they lived happily ever after! The end.

Of course, now that Elsa has returned to Arendelle, the story has been restored. Elsa and Anna grew up apart from each other, Elsa was coroneted, Elsa froze Arendelle, Anna went after her, and so on and so forth. However, it occurred to me, that if Elsa had come over here to _our_ world and returned to the "Frozen World", the story should be a different. She disappeared from the "Frozen World" and now she has returned, taking the experience of _our_ world with her. However, when the class and I watched the now _altered_ "Frozen movie", nothing was different. Absolutely nothing! Elsa never mentions her experience here in the "Real World"; in fact it doesn't even look as if she even left. I was sure that _something_ would be different about the movie, so I urged Mrs. Williams to keep playing the movie even after the credits started rolling. You know how some movies have after-credit sequences? Well perhaps there is one in after the credits in "Frozen", now that it should different. People were getting annoyed that we had to sit through the _entire _credit sequence, however when the last name rolled by and disappeared into the top of the projection, the movie continued!

It showed the interior of the Arendelle castle, after the celebration that was shown at the end of the original movie. The new scene showed now grown up Elsa in her beautiful ice-gown inside her bed chamber. She was sitting down at her dresser with a nice mirror in front of her and some assorted items you would expect on a woman's dresser. Grown Elsa opened one of the drawers in the dresser, and dug through the papers in the drawer to the very bottom where an old piece of lined paper laid. The paper looked at least a decade old, with some rips and tattered edges. However, what was written on the paper could clearly be seen. Actually, what was _drawn_! On the paper was drawn a small child, a beautiful girl, sitting on a chair with her hands neatly folded on her lap, and her snow white hair in a short braid that ran down her back. It was the sketch I drew last month of little Elsa! She had kept it with her all those years; keeping it as a reminder of the world she visited. Grown Elsa held it gently in her pale hands and smiled happily at the drawing of her younger, and live-action, self. Nearly everyone in the theatre who has seen "Frozen" was puzzled at this new scene, naturally. Dave and Richard looked at me, for they could recognize the distinct style of the drawing as my own. I smiled and nodded to them in confirmation of their apparent suspicion. I went home that day with happiness in my heart, not because it was finally summer, but because I knew that Elsa hadn't forgotten me.

**Chapter: 17**

It's finally summer! After 10 months of tedium and boredom in 6 classrooms a day, I'm finally free! Do you know what I did when the last bell rang on the last day? Dave, Richard and I all sang a song from the Les Miserables movie. We marched out of the theatre lobby in happy spirits and began to sing aloud:

_Do you hear the people sing_

_Singing the song of angry men?_

_It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again._

_When the beating of your heart_

_Echoes the beating of the drums_

_There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!_

_Will you join in our crusade?_

_Who will be strong and stand with me?_

_Beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see?_

_Then join in the fight_

_That will give you the right to be free!_

_Do you hear the people sing_

_Singing the song of angry men?_

_It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again!_

_When the beating of your heart_

_Echoes the beating of the drums_

_There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!_

Some other people leaving school started to join us, until we had a mob of people marching to the front entrance singing; marching to their freedom from school. However, now that the first full day of summer vacation has arrived, I cannot think of anything to do. I'm bored out of my mind! I can't think of anything to draw, I just sit there at my desk with a blank piece of paper in front of me. I guess I could do some yard work, but lately I've been having trouble doing so. I can't help but think of my dad and remember how he drilled the steps into my head when I first became responsible for keeping up the yards. I recall that he made sure I watered everything for a certain amount of time. I would water it too much and drown the plants, or I would water too little and the water wouldn't reach the roots. It's also quite difficult to do yard work now that father is gone; not because I don't know what to do, but because I never know when I should. He always told me when to do yard work in the past. Now I have to do it on my own initiative. I'm not saying I'm lazy; I'm simply saying that I never truly know when to start working.

It does seem quite different in the house without father to break the silence with his angry remarks and orders. His loss, I realized, has had no negative effects on us other than emotional ones. He didn't work so that means our income won't suffer; he was always relying on mother to provide money for him. Now that he can't take his share of money from our budget; that leaves us all with a larger piece of the pie. Also, now that he won't be driving his car anymore, it's now available for my purposes when I get my driver's license. Now that I think of it, his passing has had an overall positive effect on our lives! I know it is quite heartless to say so, but that is what I have come to realize. In fact my family agrees with me.

**Chapter: 18**

It is now the second day of summer vacation, and like the first day, I've slept in for the entirety of the morning. It is also the one-month anniversary of Elsa's return to Arendelle; the calendar says that today is a full moon. I couldn't help but wonder as I was lying there in bed, that what if the portal continued its schedule of opening up once every month on the full moon? What if the portal opened up today and Elsa was able to come back here? It would be an incredible rarity, but a rarity all the same. I doubt this, and I have since moved on.

I got out of bed at 11 o'clock, and walked out to the kitchen for my late breakfast. We had recently restocked our supply of Reese's Puffs, so I naturally poured myself a bowl of those. I stared out the kitchen window from the table and pictured in my head Elsa walking on the coble-stone path leading up to the front porch as if she had never left. I imagined her amongst the flowers, petting Smokey as if she was still here. Instead I saw a lonely path and Smokey sleeping by himself in the lilies. I cleaned out my bowl in the sink and put it in the dishwasher, then walked back to my room to draw. Sitting at the table and thinking of Elsa as put an idea into my mind, finally. I first got dressed, then sat down at my desk with my still sharp pencils, and began to draw. I drew what I had imagined earlier; Elsa walking along a coble-stone path. Except this time she was in the gardens of Arendelle, instead of our front yard. I drew her amongst large, flowering trees and gorgeous roses and lilies in flower beds at her feet.

I began to write my signature at the bottom of the page, concluding my sketch, when a knock came at the door. I could hear my mother rapidly leaving her bedroom to answer it, and the door opening. I could hear a conversation happening in the doorway; it was indistinct to me, however I could identify the other voice to be a woman's. It was the voice of a young woman; a woman who's vocal chords were still in the process of transitioning from that of a child to that of a grown lady. I couldn't help but place the voice in a memory. I remembered hearing it somewhere. At the mall, at school, no… from a movie! A thousand possibilities rushed through my head of the movie stars it could be. But none of them fit the voice. Perhaps I heard it in an animated movie, somewhere where I couldn't recognize the actress. I was just about to place my finger on it, when rapid steps could be heard coming down the hall to the bedrooms.

My door opened slowly, and a teenage woman stepped in slowly. Her attire was a purple dress that dropped down just above her ankles. A white gloved hand opened the door, and the girl poked her head inside. Her snow white hair was in a braid that hung down to her shoulder blades, and her light blue eyes stared at me with absolute wonder. I immediately identified her, and her voice, to be Elsa! She has returned! But she is older! How?

"Hank?" Elsa asked with a shaking voice.

"Elsa", I replied with a smile across my face that ran almost ear-to-ear, "How did you get back here?"

"You don't think I've forgotten how to get to your house do you?" She answered with a smile equally as wide as mine.

"No, how did you get back here, to this world?" I repeated more specifically this time.

"The portal opened again!" she stated ecstatically, "After five years of waiting the portal opened again!" I was puzzled by her response.

"Five years?" I repeated, "But it's only been a month"

"No, I've been in Arendelle for five years waiting to come back here", Elsa said, "You'll never believe it, but when I returned to Arendelle, only five minutes or so had passed between when I first came here and came back. It was as if I had never left!" Now I'm legitimately confused.

"Wait, five minutes was all that had passed?" I asked, Elsa nodded, "And you say you've been waiting five years to get back here?"

"Yeah, why, what's wrong?" Elsa asked equally puzzled as Samantha came into my room.

"Hank, who are you…" She began, and then she saw Elsa standing in my room.

"Hi, Samantha," Elsa greeted her cheerfully.

"Elsa?" Samantha looked baffled at first, "Elsa!" She ran up to her and hugged her. I noticed that Elsa was now at least five inches _taller_ than Samantha, and I did the math in my head. Elsa should now be the age of 14, if what she says is true about it being five years since she's been here.

"Elsa, it's only been a _month_ since you left back to Arendelle", I said, "And you say _five years_ have passed in Arendelle?"

"Yeah", she replied, letting go of Samantha, "What if there was some sort of problem with the portal?" A theory started developing in my head.

"What if a glitch in the portal system caused you to return to Arendelle in a time period that was only five minutes past when you left?" I started, standing up slowly, "And the same glitch caused you to return _here_ in a time period that was five years into the _future_ from when you returned to Arendelle a month ago." I couldn't help but feel excited by this idea.

"If that's true, then we could pop up in any time zone in Arendelle when we go back."

"Wait, when we what?"

"When we go back… to Arendelle."

"Me and you?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"No, I have to stay here. I belong _here_, I told you that."

"But I want you to see Arendelle, I want you to live the story you love so much!" Elsa grabbed my arm and smiled at me. I thought about it for a bit, I weighed the negative effects against the positive ones, and found out I have nothing to lose. It's summer vacation after all!

"Yeah, okay," I said slowly at first, "Sure, why not?" Elsa smiled at me very happily, and threw her arms around my neck and placed her lips on my own. She let me go and gave me a shy smile.

"I've been wanting to do that for five years and one month," she said modestly, and then grabbed my hand and practically dragged me out of my room in a rush.

"What's the rush?" I asked, trying to not step on her heels as we rushed out into the living room.

"The portal could be closing as we speak!" Elsa answered hastily, and ran me out the front door. I let go of her hand and turned back to the house to tell my mom, who stood in the doorway with a look on her face as if she had just seen an elephant walk down the street.

"I'm going to Arendelle!" I yelled aloud, throwing my fists into the air in a triumphant pose. My mom tried to ask me when I would be back, but Elsa and I were already out of earshot down the street. We ran all the way back to the school, where I presume is where she came back again. She must have come through and no one was there at the school, since it was summer vacation, so she ran all the way to my house to see me. I ran very fast, but paced myself so that Elsa could keep up right next to me.

"You honestly have wanted to kiss me since you met me?" I called to Elsa as we ran, almost out of breath.

"Yeah, I figured…" she started, trying to keep her breath, "… that… since we're now almost the same… age… that, well… why not?" She chuckled happily and continued to run.

We dashed through the front gates of the school and up the steps to the theatre, when we were spotted by a security guard.

"Hey, what are you to doing here?" he yelled, running up to us.

"C'mon!" Elsa yelled to me and we continued to run up the steps to the theatre lobby. We reached the glass doors and pulled on the handles but the doors wouldn't budge.

"It's locked!" Elsa exclaimed. I wondered how she was even able to get _out _of the theatre.

"Freeze it!" I yelled, as the guard approached the bottom of the steps. Elsa quickly took off one of her gloves and blasted the lock with a burst of blistering cold energy. I could hear the lock crackling in the sudden cold, and I kicked the handle which shattered and forced open the door.

"C'mon!" I exclaimed, taking a hold of Elsa's bare hand which still felt very cold. We ran into the theatre house and onto the stage where the portal remained but started shrinking dramatically. The guard was still on our tail, gaining on us, and we quickly ran through the portal which closed immediately after we were through. Running through the blue and white energy was cold and instantaneous. As soon we stepped through the portal on the other side, we were instantly thrown into Elsa's bed chamber, as if we had merely stepped through a doorway.

I fell to the floor heaving, trying to catch my breath from all that running. Elsa laughed at me in between breaths, panting for air. I don't imagine she runs that much. I turned over on my back on the exquisite carpet and stared at the white painted ceiling. I was in Arendelle! I was in "Frozen"!


End file.
